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Early Traction

1000 - 5000 MRR

The model is working at small scale. Revenue is real but fragile. Decisions are about optimising pricing, conversion, and retention — not proving people will pay.

My free tier is cannibalising paid — kill it, gate it, or cap it?

Free users love the product. Paid conversions are anaemic. You're subsidising usage that generates zero revenue. But your free users are your biggest marketing channel.

1000-5000 MRR Up to 3 people saas High — days
325
decisions
72% positive

Should I raise prices by 50% and risk losing existing customers?

You're confident the product is worth more. But a 50% increase feels aggressive. Some customers will leave. The question is whether the ones who stay (plus new customers at the higher price) generate more revenue than you lose.

1000-5000 MRR Up to 3 people saas Medium — weeks
324
decisions
72% positive

Do I add usage-based pricing on top of subscription?

Some customers use 100x more than others but pay the same. Usage-based pricing aligns cost with value. But it makes bills unpredictable and scares off small customers.

2000-5000 MRR Up to 3 people saas Medium — weeks
325
decisions
72% positive

Churn is 8% monthly — is it the price, the product, or the wrong customers?

You're losing nearly 1 in 10 customers every month. At this rate you'll never scale. But the cause matters: wrong price attracts tire-kickers, wrong product disappoints, wrong customers were never going to stay.

1000-5000 MRR Up to 3 people saas Crisis — now
324
decisions
72% positive

Should I grandfather early customers or migrate everyone to new pricing?

You're raising prices. Early customers are paying £10/mo for something new customers will pay £25/mo for. Grandfathering is good will but creates a two-tier system. Migrating is cleaner but risks your most loyal users.

1000-5000 MRR Up to 3 people saas High — days
325
decisions
72% positive

Do I discount to win against a funded competitor or hold my price?

A VC-backed competitor is undercutting you. They can afford to. Discounting to match might win deals but trains your market to expect low prices. Holding price means losing some deals but keeping margins.

1000-5000 MRR Up to 2 people saas service High — days
322
decisions
72% positive

Should I switch from monthly to annual-first to improve cash flow?

Monthly billing means predictable churn and low commitment. Annual-first means better cash flow, lower churn, and committed customers. But requiring annual upfront increases friction at checkout when your brand is unknown.

2000-5000 MRR Up to 3 people saas Medium — weeks
324
decisions
72% positive

My ARPU is £15/mo and it's not enough — raise prices or add tiers?

You have customers. Revenue is growing. But £15/mo per user means you need hundreds of customers to make this work. Raising the base price is simpler. Adding tiers captures more from power users. Both carry risk.

1000-3000 MRR Up to 2 people saas High — days
324
decisions
72% positive

B2B prospects want invoicing and annual contracts — do I build that or stay self-serve?

B2B customers mean higher ACV but longer sales cycles. They want NET 30 invoicing, POs, maybe custom contracts. Building this infrastructure costs weeks of dev time. Not building it means losing £500-2k/mo deals.

2000-5000 MRR Up to 3 people saas Medium — weeks
327
decisions
72% positive

I sold lifetime deals early — how do I transition to recurring without alienating those users?

You sold 200 lifetime deals at £49 to get initial cash. Now you have recurring customers at £20/mo. The LTD users cost you money every month but are your most vocal advocates. Cutting them off would be a PR disaster.

1000-5000 MRR Up to 2 people saas High — days
322
decisions
72% positive
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