So you’ve hit a slump in your business and you’re having trouble increasing your profit margin?
Chances are, you’re either charging too little or too much to your current and prospective clients.
Pricing your business services is one of the most challenging factors for your company and can prevent it from staying afloat.
This quick guide will show you what to charge for services so that you don’t price yourself out of the market but also prevent clients from short-changing you.
Here’s what you need to know about pricing your service:
If Charging Low, Create a Retainer
If you charge low prices to clients, then you must request that they sign a retainer. This ensures that they’ll pay you a fixed amount for a set period.
Let’s say that your client can’t pay more than $500 for a project. They might bail after paying this small fee after one project. But what if you agree to work with them for a period of 6 weeks and complete one project per week?
Within this 6-week period, you’ve earned $3,000! If they aren’t willing to sign a retainer, then they should pay a higher one-time fee.
However, you shouldn’t even charge less than three digits for a business service. While you might get tempted to charge low prices, you likely won’t attract the best clients.
The one exception should be if your client gives you several assignments. So, if your client is only willing to pay $5 for an assignment, they should give you at least 10-20 assignments at a time.
How High to Charge
The next scenario is to charge a high price for clients who’ll only request work for a short period or for a one-time project.
For this scenario, you always want to charge a fixed price. Don’t charge by the hours you’ll work or the volume of the work.
For example, let’s assume you work as a content writer. Let’s assume it takes you an average of one hour to write a 1,000-word blog post.
What happens if it takes 2 hours to complete a blog post for a particular client? What happens if the client cuts down on your blog post and it ends up being 700 words?
You want to charge a fixed price to handle either scenario. Even if it takes you an average of one hour, charge for two hours. Charge a fixed price that the client can’t change if they cut down your words.
While you might feel uncomfortable charging high prices you’ll give a great impression to your client. They’ll feel that you take your work seriously if you charge high.
You should also use an online invoice generator to send to your clients. Sending them the invoice in advance shows that you’re a professional freelancer.
That’s How to Charge For Your Business Services
Now you know how much to charge for your business services to keep your company afloat.
Never charge low prices unless your client is willing to stick to a retainer. If they request very low prices, then they should give you several assignments at once.
If you charge high prices, it’s always best to charge a fixed price rather than a price based on the volume of work or the average hours you’ll work. Make sure you always send an invoice in advance to such clients.
You can find more business tips on our blog.
