I recently had a conversation with a client about her speaking fees and she confided to me that she had been having difficulty setting her rates because she felt ‘uncomfortable’ asking for an amount commensurate with her level of experience. Are you comfortable charging what you’re worth?
Passion. This is the driving force behind many decisions to start a business. Passion for a product or service; passion for helping their local community. While fantastic in concept, it does present a unique challenge when determining your prices. The problem lies between helping that same community and paying your bills. For many people, there still remains a stigma around making money. You would be amazed how often we have this conversation.
As part of our service offerings, we work with businesses to be certain they are correctly positioned within their target market. Branding is as much about the perception as the reality and a business that hasn’t done their due diligence on their market value is destined to fail. Price too high and you price yourself out to the market. Set the bar too low, and you will have to continually fight the perception of low quality. Are you comfortable charging what you’re worth?
This is particularly problematic with female entrepreneurs. Julie Murphy Casserly, author of The Emotion Behind Money: Building Wealth From the Inside Out, says it all starts “in our own heads, what you think and feel.” Your inner thoughts create your belief system, which in turn can become your reality.
So, how do you determine your worth? This question applies not only to the start-ups and new businesses but also to established companies. Overhead, product and staffing costs, market value, these are all important metrics when determining your pricing structure but there are many intangibles that should go into pricing as well. What do you do differently? What are you offering the client that renders the cost a secondary concern? Unless you want to compete on price alone, you need to base your value on something else. Are you providing an extraordinary experience? Are you unique in your offerings?
Stop competing on price and start competing on value.
We Can Help
3D Studios helps businesses grow their influence and their brands. As a boutique brand management agency, we begin with a thorough analysis of your needs and partner with you to develop and execute a marketing plan that will help you take your business to the next level. To learn more about how 3D Studios can help you, visit us at www.3Dstudios.net or call 914-304-4229.
