Now we are going one step further, and we are asking our customers to price the product for us. What’s more we are going to document the process in 2 blog pieces and publicise it to the world.

• this one, to share why and how we are doing this
• a second, to share the analysis and the results

It is unusual for a company to be so transparent over its pricing but we do so for good reasons.

1. Our goal is to create a generation of graduate entrepreneurs to drive the economy forward. We do this primarily through the software we sell to Universities, but also the support and resources we supply alongside. This is one of those resources.
2. Practice what we preach. We preach customer driven market research, problem discovery, development, testing and now pricing. We can’t be afraid to shy away from our philosophy and we should share this with our community.
3. Builds trust. Having a transparent and fair pricing process and structure is important to us in a market governed by trust and credibility.

A more accurate pricing model is a faster driver of growth….

At the Business of Software Conference in Boston, MA, I was lucky enough to hear from Patrick Campbell from Price Intelligently. Patrick had some amazing insight into SaaS businesses across the world and his talk highlighted the importance of pricing and even gave me a methodology to approach pricing ‘as a science.’

In a survey of 25,679 blog posts on growth, Price Intelligently discovered that fewer than 10% were focused on monetisation compared to around 80% that discussed acquisition. However by improving retention and monetisation by 1% has 2x to 4x the impact of improving acquisition by the same amount. Not sure what I mean? Here’s the graph from his talk.

These businesses are acquisition obsessed, when monetisation could lead to faster growth.

Patrick’s data was interesting for growing companies, but it also made me think about companies that are still in the start-up stage, still building the company, still testing and iterating and finding product-market fit. What thought have they put into their pricing strategy? My hunch – probably little to none.

How are we conducting our pricing survey?

The obvious concern of a customer-led pricing strategy is that customers will suggest a price for a product which is significantly below it’s value. Although there is some evidence ‘Pay-what-you-want’ schemes, can increase sellers revenues (see “Pay what you want: a new participative pricing mechanism” by JY Kim; M Natter; M Spann (January 2009 ) we are not allowing customers to pay what they want, but rather using customer feedback to inform our decision making process. By following the Price Intelligently methodology, we believe we can find a more accurate pricing model and price points.

Price Intelligently Methodology

1. Relative Preference Analysis – Statistical methodology to measure preferences for features, intention, and value propositions.
2. Price Sensitivity Analysis – Proven model for gauging customer’s willingness to pay and price sensitivity.
3. Experimental Design – Properly Segmenting and breaking down the data

Having already conducted a rather primitive ‘relative preference analysis’ we will be focusing on point 2 of the Price Intelligently methodology.

We are asking these 4 questions (adapted for our purpose):

At what (per user) price point does SANDPIT become too expensive that you’d never consider purchasing it?

 Price – £         /user

At what (per user) price point does SANDPIT start to become expensive, but you’d still consider purchasing it?

 Price – £          /user

At what (per user) price point does SANDPIT look like a really good deal?

 Price – £          /user

At what (per user) price point does SANDPIT look too cheap that you question the quality of it? 

 Price – £          /user

We are putting these questions to our customers, prospects, and even the leads that have rejected our proposition in the past. Finally I want to open it up to you, our reader.

Are you a lecturer in a University that is interested in bringing a practical learning experience on Entrepreneurship into your module?

Have your say on our pricing.

Go to sandpit.cc for more information on the proposition and then send your responses to the questions above to henry@crowdfundcampus.com

Venue: HEEG Annual Conference, Kingston University

For the final plenary of the HEEG Annual Conference, Crowdfund Campus invite you to a short TED-style talk on the End of Business Planning in Enterprise Education, and the need for students and staff to move out of their comfort zones, encourage interaction with customers and experience failure.

In case this wasn’t a big enough incentive to stay to the end, we invite you to join us for a drinks reception and a few bottles of bubbly to celebrate the launch of ‘Sandpit’, a new crowdfunding simulator. Already piloted in 5 Universities and in UG and PG modules ranging from entrepreneurship to fashion to sport, the ‘Sandpit’ is a great way to bring technology into the classroom, conduct peer review and inject enterprise into the curriculum.

Book your tickets here: 
http://www.heeg.org.uk/index.php/2015/12/14/heeg-annual-conference-2016/

Book your slot at our stand here:

Crowdfund Campus works with Universities across the UK to give students the skills and knowledge to pursue their ideas in the real world. The focus is not on crowdfunding to raise money but as a method to test markets, validate ideas and a tool for enterprise education. Started by graduates from the University of Warwick in 2013, the team are trusted by Universities across the UK to support staff, educate students and promote the entrepreneurial pathway. Book your slot to visit us at our stand here, or speak to us at the drinks reception to see how they can inspire your students.

• Birmingham
• Bradford
• Henley Business School
• London College of Fashion
• Worcester

Leave your e-mail here to make sure you don’t miss out.

Paul Smith, similarly opened up his own shop in Nottingham in 1970 after training as a tailor. Now that eponymous shop is a global brand with a cult following in certain parts of the world. 

Whereas budding fashion entrepreneurs like Kidston and Smith would have once opened a small shop to start their business, 8 groups of Fashion Business School students at the London College of Fashion are using crowdfunding to test their ideas in the marketplace and launch their fashion brands.

The ideas include a sock with a secure pocket for festival goers, individualised chokers, caps with a shoreditch twist and a range of engraved make up brushes. “It’s given us a great first chance to get our name out there, reach out to a potential customer base, and get invaluable feedback for our business” said Tamara Massey, a student whose group has designed a small range of handmade leather accessories.

This is a world-first use of crowdfunding within the curriculum, giving students a real world challenge. These ideas and more can be found at http://crowdfundcampus.com/london-college-of-fashion

As part of the Fashion Business module at the University of Arts, these Fashion Business School students were tasked with coming up with their own business ideas. After looking for problems, assessing trends and doing market research, they settled on their ideas and pitched to a panel of lecturers and business professionals for £100 and to launch on the University’s crowdfunding platform to conduct a market test for their businesses.

“This is a really innovative use of crowdfunding in the curriculum, giving students exposure to a risk of failure and a real learning opportunity’ said Henry Jinman, founder of Crowdfund Campus, the provider of the platform to the University. ‘Crowdfund Campus works with Universities like the UAL to use crowdfunding and crowdfunding simulations for enterprise education. This is a great example of this in action”.

Universities face mounting criticism for molly-coddling students and not preparing them for the real world. “Creative universities such as ourselves are always trying to innovate through enhancing the academic curriculum with new ideas and technologies. Ultimately, we want our students to have the best learning experience possible whilst at the same time ensuring we equip them with the understanding and skills necessary for future employment” said Dan Henderson, Programme Director at LCF.

All that remains now, is to look to http://crowdfundcampus.com/london-college-of-fashion after May 18th and see if we have the next Kidston or Smith amongst us.

For more information. Please contact:

Henry Jinman

Founder & CEO, Crowdfund Campus

E: henry@crowdfundcampus.com

T: 07545 898120

@HCJinman

@CrowdCampusUK

Dan Henderson

Programme Director, London College of Fashion

E: d.henderson@fashion.arts.ac.uk

T: 020 7514 8582

Liz Bunting

Lecturer of Marketing, London College of Fashion

E: l.bunting@fashion.arts.ac.uk