Shidaki Venture Studio
Restricted Access

Shidaki Labs

This area is for authorised Shidaki partners only. Enter your access password to continue.

← Back to Labs
Active Testing

Project
Halcyon

B2B workflow automation tool for small and medium enterprises. Currently in active user testing with three pilot customers.

StageTesting
StartedOctober 2024
Pilot Users3
Target MarketUK SMEs
ModelSaaS / Monthly
Decision DueQ2 2026
Overview

The problem
we're solving.

Small and medium-sized businesses waste significant time on repetitive administrative workflows — scheduling, document routing, approval chains, and status reporting. Enterprise tools are either too complex or too expensive. Simpler tools don't integrate with existing systems.

Project Halcyon proposes a lightweight B2B SaaS product that connects to the tools SMEs already use (email, spreadsheets, cloud storage) and automates the most time-intensive workflows without requiring technical expertise to configure.

The core hypothesis: SME operators will pay a modest monthly subscription to save 3–5 hours of administrative time per week, if setup takes less than one day.

Experiment Log

What we've
tested.

January 2026

Pilot Customer Onboarding — Round 1

Three SMEs (professional services sector) onboarded to the MVP. Each given a structured 60-minute setup session. Average setup time: 1.5 hours. All three remain active after 4 weeks.

Positive — ahead of hypothesis
December 2024

Pricing Sensitivity Test

Van Westendorp pricing survey sent to 28 SME operators recruited via LinkedIn. Acceptable price range: £29–£79/month. Current proposed price of £49/month sits comfortably within range.

Positive — pricing validated
November 2024

Landing Page Demand Test

Simple landing page with waitlist CTA ran for 3 weeks via LinkedIn and Google Ads (£400 budget). 47 sign-ups at £8.51 cost-per-lead. Conversion rate: 3.2%. Benchmark is 2.5%.

Positive — demand signal confirmed
October 2024

Customer Discovery Interviews

12 in-depth interviews with SME owners and operations managers across professional services, retail, and logistics. 9 of 12 cited administrative workflow as a top-3 pain point. 7 of 12 expressed interest in a dedicated tool.

Positive — problem confirmed
Next Steps

Current
priorities.

In Progress

30-Day Retention Data

Awaiting completion of first full billing cycle with pilot customers. Data expected end of February 2026.

Upcoming

NPS Survey — Pilot Group

Structured NPS and qualitative feedback survey to be sent to all three pilot customers at the 6-week mark.

Pending Decision

Deployment Review

Full go/no-go review scheduled for Q2 2026 once retention and NPS data are available. Deployment target: Q3 2026.