How do I set prices in my small business?
Pricing is a question that comes up time and time again for many small business owners. Where to even start with pricing up services can be the number one challenge for start-ups and established businesses alike.
To be the cheapest, middle of the road or most expensive..?
To share pricing on your website or keep this information hidden…unless a potential customer asks directly?
There is often a myriad of questions that surround pricing that rarely get resolved. If the business owner feels unsure the most likely outcome is always inaction.
Inaction around pricing leads directly to customer interactions which leave the potential customer feeling confused. And we all know a confused mind never buys.
Unclear or ‘too cheap’ pricing for your small business will, in the former, result in little to NO sales and latterly will likely result in customers who demand even more service from you.
How to get your small business pricing right.
There are a few approaches to pricing your services and the suggestion here is to use a combination of all of them. This will ensure that YOU as the business owner are being fulfilled, your team are motivated, and your customers are receiving a quality service and will keep returning.
Packaging up: – Stop charging by the day or the hour. Charging this way means that you will never be able to take time away from the business without earning. It’ll also mean you feel under pressure during your working day, feeling unable to take lunch or loo breaks.
Instead think about how you add some value-added services that take little time from you or your team to deliver. Perhaps a pre-recorded set of trainings, access to relevant events through to group or online calls.
Understand your values: – be clear on the ‘rules’ you live your life and run your business by. If customer satisfaction, quality and creativity are at the top of your list, in order to be able to deliver on that promise, your customers they will have to pay a premium for those deliverables.
Knowing your values will help you to get clear on the type of service you want to deliver and how you want to be known. This will in turn dictate whether you are an ‘Aldi’ ‘Sainsbury’s’ or the ‘Fortnum and Mason’ of your industry.
Know your cost to serve: – many businesses forget to take in to account the entire cost to deliver their services. From the technology that assists all small businesses, to the marketing costs to attract the potential clients in the first place, right the way through to the time it takes to deliver the administrative tasks. It all has to be taken into account when pricing the services in your small business.
And if you have invested heavily in yourself in order to deliver your service then this experience and expertise is to be paid for.
If you want your business to be sustainable, fulfil your financial needs and keep your customers coming back for more, time to do a full audit on your pricing.
Check out this free resource ‘Calculate Your Worth’ which will help you get started.
Is it time for you to invest in yourself? Book in for my complimentary Kickstart Session – a one hour call to understand whether you are ready to turn your dreams into reality.
