PRICING: But WTF do I charge?
How much should I charge? That is one of the biggest dilemmas I had to deal with when I first had my coaching business. I was struggling with how to price my product and it was very hard for me to explain what I did. It was a rollercoaster ride.
Here are some tried and tested tips that I think might be helpful for you in deciding how much you should charge your clients.
Structuring Your Business
Okay, let’s say you want to know how much it costs you to run everything in your business. Think about your numbers. How much does it cost you to host your business website? Are you paying any team members currently? Do you have marketing that you pay for? Do you pay for a business coach? Do you operate a podcast and have that as an expense? What are all your business expenses? You need to know all of them and simplify them by splitting them into a monthly sense.
Find how much you should make monthly to make sure that you can cover your bills. Lastly, think about the expenses that you can eliminate by asking yourself these questions:
“Is this moving the needle in my business?”
“Is this paying me back?”
“Is this knowledge that I'm gaining from this course or this person benefiting me monthly,” and
“Is it worth the money that I'm spending?”
Setting Goals and Funneling Your Revenue
Set your goals on how many clients you, realistically speaking, can have in a month. Aim for something attainable but do not beat yourself down when you can't reach a certain goal. Your profit should be funneled back to your business. Prioritize the area that needs improvement but don't let one factor fall behind the other factors. This grows not only your business but will also keep it running for a long time.
Word of Mouth
This is one of the factors that is super essential in starting your business. It is a free avenue of marketing that is very effective since it grows organically. The free marketing will come from clients who are satisfied with your service. It will surely intrigue potential clients who are also in the market for the type of service you are providing.
Know Your Competitors' Pricing
Being aware of how much your competitors are charging is a good reference on how you should build your pricing. But don’t focus on them too much because they all have unique strategies and goals. Instead, focus more on the value of your products.
Your pricing helps you attract your ideal client. So you need to know what your client needs to cover up all your monthly fees. If you don't know the answer, then definitely go back to the drawing board to reestablish your ideal client.
Test Your Market
Now that you’ve structured your business, set up your goals, marketing strategies, and assessed your competitors’ pricing— it’s time to test out results and see if they are the right thing for you. Instead of going all in one to one client without being sure.
The Bottom Line
It goes without saying that it takes a lot of planning and research when pricing your product. What the right pricing comes back to is figuring out what is in alignment with your goals and for your ideal client— and how you can start to convert that for yourself based on your business expenses.
Make sure at the very least, you reward yourself with something. Go easy on yourself because what matters most is that you’re doing your best to grow your business.