Start with a free MVP or jump right into paid product creation?

[Dannydee]

Hey,

I've been working on a digital business idea to build and deliver digital products. My website is starting to look quite good, although it's not done yet. I'm building it with Framer, and it's been quite pleasant to work with.

I think I'm starting with a one-page landing page to present an "upcoming" MVP to garner interest and get advance sign-ups so we can test out the MVP (for free) and go from there.

Logically, I know the best bet is to go with an MVP, but is it wise to do it for free, or is it ever a good idea to launch a paid, perhaps reduced-priced MVP over a completely free one?

At this point, I just want to know if it's a good idea to try and give yourself a leg-up by going for a paid MVP rather than giving free access and then trying to convert users into paid customers.

 

[Mark T Jones]

What is your initial goal?

What are your revenue streams ultimately going to be?

If they are BETA testing, then it definitely needs to be free

If it's market acceptance, then possibly either free or extremely low cost with specific parameters on time or accessibility

 

[Dannydee]

What is your initial goal?

What are your revenue streams ultimately going to be?

If they are BETA testing, then it definitely needs to be free

If it's market acceptance, then possibly either free or extremely low cost with specific parameters on time or accessibility

I've done a fair bit of research on the product/s and it's a growing market, but I haven't done much in terms of financial forecasting yet.

My initial goal was/is to get an MVP up and running and get it out there being used, then go from there using feedback, positives, failings, etc. So I guess on that basis the best thing probably is to put it out free.

I suppose a "free trial" is another option if we're confident the MVP is solid and valuable. I was also thinking of launching 2 very similar MVPs as a split test and then choose the best performing one.

 

[fisicx]

Free MVP to test the market. Then the freemium to get upgrades. Then launch the full Monty. Still offer a free version with limited features or a 30 day trial.

 

[Joey80]

I would go for free. you need feedback, reviews etc and that's more valuable to you than revenue. You could tell MVP users it's free for the first year ( or something generous), or free for the first x number of sign-ups...

 

[Dannydee]

Free MVP to test the market. Then the freemium to get upgrades. Then launch the full Monty. Still offer a free version with limited features or a 30 day trial.

I would go for free. you need feedback, reviews etc and that's more valuable to you than revenue. You could tell MVP users it's free for the first year ( or something generous), or free for the first x number of sign-ups...

Yeah, sounds good. Thanks for the ideas. Although I'm not sure about "free for a year" haha! But we'll see what happens.

I've reached out to my local enterprise agency that recently launched a new (free) business mentorship programme. Whilst I feel I have enough experience and education to continue on this venture alone, it cannot hurt to engage in some face-to-face time with an industry expert, and I'm confident they can assist me with some aspects of the venture, like market research and positioning.

 

[fisicx]

a year as it can take this long to fully develop, test and launch the full fat version from the MVP. The idea is the alpha and beta testers work with you using the free version then pay a discounted price at product launch.

 

[Dannydee]

a year as it can take this long to fully develop, test and launch the full fat version from the MVP. The idea is the alpha and beta testers work with you using the free version then pay a discounted price at product launch.

Oh yeah, that makes sense. Like maybe the first 50 people or something. How many would be too many?

 

[lesseo]

I have many questions on my mind about this topic as well. This is very important for being sustainable, especially for micro-SaaS businesses. Is it completely free for a certain number of users or, let's say, a price with a 70% discount? After all, if you're building your capital on your own, this becomes quite important in the beginning.

 

[Dannydee]

I have many questions on my mind about this topic as well. This is very important for being sustainable, especially for micro-SaaS businesses. Is it completely free for a certain number of users or, let's say, a price with a 70% discount? After all, if you're building your capital on your own, this becomes quite important in the beginning.

This is a really good question/observation that perfectly ties with my more recent thoughts about all this, and forms part of the reason I was logging in today.

Since, as you have observed, this original idea/proposal was quite vague (is it 50 people who get it free? 100 people? how long do they get it free? Do they get a taster? Discount, etc), I am now attempting to rethink and hopefully restructure my plan.

I was thinking, why not offer a free trial, or "taster pack" of my products, so that users can see how the tools operate and fit into their day-to-day working life. The taster pack will provide immediate value, showing the user how they can better streamline and speed up their processes, and then, if they're happy and would like more, they can upgrade.

The perfect outcome would be a tiered offering - like starter, business, pro, for example, but I think offering tiers from the very beginning would be a very bold move when we haven't even built or tested any products yet... BUT, having said that, we do have the ideas, we know how we're going to build them, and they would of course be thoroughly tested before going live.

So I would say the most appropriate plan would be to offer the free starter pack, with one standalone option to upgrade to a paid package that provides more access, tools, and capabilities.

Does that sound like a reasonable strategy? It's slightly bold, but I don't think it's too bold, assuming we have tested everything in the package and the contents are solid.

Other questions:

1. Is it an overstretch to register a company name on Companies House, or am I getting ahead of myself?
2. Extension of Q1, I would then apply for a business bank account. Are these wise things to do, or would some people test and see if something works first?

My website is almost ready to publish, and I'll then be connecting the email capture and the product download workflow. Tomorrow is September 1st, and the first day of the month seems like a good date to have some of these key matters sorted.

I'm still several weeks away from going live as I want to put as much in place as possible, incl. the select few social media channels, etc, and I want to address some of these important legal matters in advance of going live.

 

[fisicx]

Have you get that MVP up and running? Have you paid for people to test and report back? Better to find all the bugs now than after you go live.

When I launch a new plugin I pay for targeted testing. No no point in getting people who will never be a customer telling you the website is pants.

 

[Dannydee]

What? But my website is obviously going to be amazinggggg

No MVPs yet, but we (me) have our ideas. Yes, we're a fair bit off from that perspective.

Where does one pay for targeted testing?