How to Start Charging More for Your Services So You Can Work Less
When you think of how you can free up time and make more in your service-based business, what comes to mind first? Your most likely goes to what all the online business marketers are preaching:
Grow your list and audience.
Offer a low price point product.
Make it digital so it’s passive.
But the reality check here is that right there isn’t the fastest way for you to make more and work less (quite the opposite, actually).
So have you ever looked at your services and what you’re currently charging? Have you worked backwards on how much you say you want to make vs. what you’re actually charging?
The real key to putting your life first in your business again is to know exactly what you need to charge + how many clients you need to work with in order to reach your goals. Let’s break it down in this blog post!
Your Goals vs. Reality
Because let’s face it, your goals and what’s actually possible with where your business is at right now are likely on opposite ends of the spectrum. We want to reel you (gently) back to reality by asking you this one question:
With what you’re currently charging for your services, how many clients would it take to hit your goals?
The answer is probably a lot. Much more than your capacity can even realistically allow you to take on. Because of this, so many service providers are turning to other ways to grow their businesses with things like low-ticket digital offers and memberships.
Spoiler alert: That isn’t a viable path to go down either.
Let’s Do the Math
Let’s say you’re a branding and web designer who thinks that offering a branding guide for $17 is a way to supplement for the income you simply just aren’t reaching with your current capacity to take on 1:1 clients right now. Sure, the idea seems really sexy. Who would really hesitate to purchase something for only $17? We spend more at Chipotle.
But the kicker is that you want to hit $50k take home with this offer— not even accounting for the money you’re investing back into your business, paying out to yourself, and paying taxes with. How many people would you need to purchase? Don’t worry, we’ve already done the math for you: At least 250 people per month. With the average conversion rate being around 2%, that’s 12,500 people you’d just need to get the offer in front of. Can you see the misalignment?
BUT A MEMBERSHIP WOULD WORK, RIGHT?
Perhaps you’re what you may call a “Jill of all VAs”. You’re a Virtual Assistant who offers a little bit of social media, a little bit of copywriting, a little bit of graphic design, a little bit of everything. Because you have a foot in so many different areas and offer so many different services, you think the best way to get all of this information in front of people is by offering a low-ticket membership for $27/month.
But, lo and behold, you want to bring home $60k with this membership. (Spoiler alert, again: We did the math already.) You’d have to sell your membership to around 200 people per month. With what we know about conversion rates, are you really capable of getting it in front of that many people? And then repeating those same results every single month? With the time and availability you have now when you aren’t doing client work?
HIGH TAKE HOME BUT LOW PACKAGES
Maybe you’re in digital marketing and don’t actually want to offer some type of digital offer, membership, or course. You’re just fine with your marketing services and aim to hit at least $80k… buuttt your highest package is only $1500-2000 where you’re doing a lot of work. Like, just one client at this higher package is eating up way too much of your time already without yielding the type of results financially to make it even worth it.
The ideal scenario in this circumstance is that you’re consistently booking your $1500 package to hit that financial goal. Clients aren’t even looking at your lower $500-1000 packages in this world. Would you be able to take on 53 clients per year at this package that barely leaves you enough time to focus on the other areas of your business, like your admin, marketing, content creation, onboarding and offboarding?
How to Actually Make Your Goals Happen
All of the above scenarios aren’t scenarios that are actually going to make your goals happen. They just aren’t viable ways to grow a sustainable and scalable business without completely maxing out your capacity.
So, if you want to simplify business and get clarity on how to reach your goals without sacrificing your time, personal life, and mental health, then we encourage you to apply for The Incubator. Or if you need the brain power of someone else and want to chat it out with us, you can send us a DM on Instagram @bossproject!
