One of the big questions we have faced as a start up is our pricing strategy for our MVP.

Pricing strategy for an MVP? That doesn’t exist, right? Everyone gives their product away for free to gain traction? Although there is some truth in that, we have decided to disagree that this is the best option.

Don’t get us wrong. There is a lot to be said for giving away your product for free. Surely its easier to win users, get feedback and start your journey. This does make sense especially if dealing with a B2C product. Your MVP is far from perfect, in fact its inherently flawed and this contributes towards a feeling of guilt as a startup, that you cannot charge people to use a product or service that is just not 100% launch ready yet.

We like to think there is a difference between a very basic prototype and one that yes, people would actually hand over money for. What are the factors that distinguish this? Well, its having the basics right in terms of features, ease of use, design and also the nature of your customer journey.

We are at a stage with our MVP where we feel that our current version is totally justifiable as a paid version. We will incur costs by running it with clients. Every start up out there is screaming that you can use their product for free, but experience from years spent on client side, tells us that actually sometimes free services can come across as not worthwhile or a little cheap. There is a co-relation between perceived value and the price you pay.

We have come to a place where it feels right to distinguish free and paid service based on the size of the job. We are happy to offer our product for free to smaller jobs — as we can absorb running costs pretty easily. But for larger projects, with a fully functioning MVP, it doesn’t make business sense to be losing money due to running costs. Are we charging full cost — no! We offer a 30–50% discount because our product isn’t perfect. But is it working? It sure is.

In terms of traction. Forget who your advisers might be. Forget how many followers you have or what accelerators you have done or the size of your team. Real traction is real sales. Showing that clients have parted with hard cash for your service.

The proof will be the test of time but we are confident, given that our first quote with our first paying customer has been accepted. We look forward to serving them and their 10,000 attendees in September, when they are tentatively planning their event. Curious about our final pricing? You can find out more here.