How do I make my software a painkiller instead of a vitamin?
Short answer
Attach a way for the customer to make money. Software that only saves time is a vitamin: nice, easy to cancel, and a solo user will just do the extra hour by hand. Add something that earns, like a paid directory or jobs section, and the tool can pay for itself, command a higher price and lock people in.
A vitamin makes your life a little easier. A painkiller fixes something that hurts, usually money. People pay more for painkillers and they don't cancel them.
Why isn't saving time enough?
My newsletter software, as first built, just saved operators time. That's a vitamin. For one guy running one local newsletter, the reaction is: cool, TJ, it saves me a bit of time, but you're charging $100 for it. I'll just spend the extra hour or two doing it manually.
That's the trap. If the customer can replace your tool with an hour or two of their own effort, a $100 price tag starts to look optional.
How do you turn a time-saver into a painkiller?
Add a feature that makes them money, ideally one they couldn't easily build alone.
"The directory especially, what that does is I think it turns the software from a vitamin to a painkiller, you know, where the directory will make them money"
A local newsletter operator can't just go build an automated business directory or a job board on their own. Put that inside the newsletter tool and two things happen. More people buy it, and it gets stickier, because they don't want to give it up. They'll pay more for it and be more locked in.
Can a feature make the software free for the customer?
That's the goal. I quoted one customer $400 a month and he said, let's go tomorrow. Even so, the tool itself didn't generate revenue for him.
Now add a pay-per-application jobs section. Say it brings in about 20 applications a month at $20 each. That's $400. If I'm charging $400 a month for the software, it's free.
| Software as | What the customer thinks |
|---|---|
| Time-saver only | A cost that makes life easier |
| Time-saver plus revenue feature | Pays for itself |
What does a real painkiller look like?
greetform is my example. It's a signup survey and offer wall for newsletters, and it can make the publisher money from each new subscriber. You sign up and pay $50 and you could make $1,000. That's a painkiller, not a vitamin.
The same logic applies to services. Writing someone's newsletter is a vitamin. Growing their list and making money from each subscriber is the painkiller.
How much of the job does a workflow tool need to do?
At least 85%. Small business owners don't want six specialized tools at $100 a month each. They'd rather have one platform that's not as good than send their employees to six.
It doesn't have to do 100%. But if it does much less than 85%, they'll decide it's just easier to do it all themselves.
Answered by TJ Larkin. From client calls, my own product notes and work with my AI agents, 2024-2026. Last updated .