After bootstrapping BuddiesHR to $38k MRR, I can say this with confidence:
Pricing is THE biggest growth lever.
In 2 years at BuddiesHR, we changed our pricing 3 times.
The last time, it nearly doubled our revenue.
Each time, same process:
↳ Roll out the new pricing to new users only
↳ Monitor the conversion rate
↳ If it holds, roll out to 20% of existing users
↳ If no major pushback, scale to the rest
Here's how it evolved:
1. $0.25 per employee/month (flat)
2. $0.50 per employee/month per app (we had 4 apps at the time)
3. $0.50 per employee/month for one app, $1 for the full suite
4. Today: $1 per employee/month, $2 for the full suite
I know what you think.
This sounds scary as f*ck.
It is.
But try it once, and it will become your new addiction lol.
Every time we pushed the pricing up, we feared conversion would drop.
It didn't.
Turns out, most founders undercharge.
Not because of the market.
But because of their own fear.
Now most users pick the $2 plan.
Because it's a no-brainer.
Because pricing frames perceived value.
And because if you're on a marketplace like Slack, you only get one shot to convert.
Pricing isn't a side topic.
It's not a detail.
It's a growth channel.
Treat it like one.
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👋 Hey, I'm J.Y!
I'm the co-founder of BuddiesHR, the #1 suite of Slack apps.
Using Slack? Give it a try, it's a no-brainer.
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Co-Founder @Breakcold | The sales CRM for 2025, not 2010.
1 day ago
impact of growth levers in order of importance => doubling pricing yields more growth than dividing churn by 2 which yields more growth than => acquiring 2 times more customers
Pricing first, focus on churn second, focus on acquisition third. I don't remember where I watched empirical evidence with stats on it, maybe a pricing guide somewhere
Founder & COO | Building digital identity infrastructure of tomorrow
3 days ago
Excellent post on a rather sensitive subject J.Y Delmotte. You also should be transparent as to what the price increase covers or why it's done.
This here point answers everything clearly:
"Because pricing frames perceived value."
Back at Wise when we had the first major announcent on the conversion fee rate incrase from a standard flat fee to a blended cost model, the announcement was to make it completely transparant on the cost component breakdown. That explanation was done in an email announcement to all users showcasing what that new price covers.
And everyone took it extremely well with full understanding, because of the service's value that we were providing.