When owning your own business, one of the obstacles you may face is feeling comfortable charging for your services or products and understanding how to determine the value of your offerings. As Mompreneurs, your job may have started out as a hobby and transitioning from a hobby to a full-fledged money earning business may be a challenge. If you have a tangible product you are selling, it may be easier to set a cost for your product, but if you make the product or if you offer a service that is less tangible, are you charging what you are worth? Here are some basic tips to help you determine and understand your value and to help you feel more comfortable charging the right fees for your offerings.
1. Be clear on what you are offering. You need to know what you bring to your clients. If you are offering services, what services do you provide? If you are offering a product, what does your product do? Be as specific as you can. A way to approach what you have to offer is to think about some of the pain your customers experience and understand how you help them with that pain. If you can verbalize how you help them, you are on your way to both you and your customers understanding your true value. For example- if you are an accountant, your customer’s pain may be doing their taxes. By understanding their pain and explaining how you help them with that pain, your product or services becomes even more enticing. You may say “I am an accountant and I take the worry out of your taxes. I crunch the numbers so you don’t have to.” Your solution should respond directly to the customers need.
2. Know your target market. You need to know exactly who it is you are trying to reach with your product or services. Who is your ideal customer? Who do you want to sell your product or services to and who is willing to pay for what you are offering?
3. Know the value of what you are offering. Money is an exchange mechanism for something with a perceived value. Money is our currency that represents the value or worth of what we are selling. If you want to get paid for your services, you need to know the value your customers or clients will put on those services. If you can research what others in your area are charging for similar services this is a great way to gauge what you will be able to charge. You need to understand what the market will support and what customers will pay.
4. Know how you are different from the competition. What are the key differentiators for your products or services? How do your services provide something different than your competitors? Why should a customer go with you and what do you offer that makes your services special? For example: As a coach that works with Mompreneurs what sets me apart from other Mompreneur or business coaches? My differentiator is that I work with the complete Mom to know who she is, what she provides, and what is great about her. I help her translate that knowledge into her business to create greater success and profit. Keep in mind what you are providing may not be a fit for everyone, but it will resonate with the people who will be perfect clients or customers for you. If you are selling Pampered Chef or Mary Kay, how do you do it different or better than others? What expertise do you have and what is it worth? Are your parties the most fun or do you teach your clients something valuable? What is it that is different about you and what sets you apart?
5. Know your personal value in the equation- This is where you really drive home what you provide. What knowledge or expertise do you have that you bring to your customers? You need a way to describe how you help the clients with something they value. Be clear on what you give. I will list some things below and see if any of these describe how you help your clients.
Do you provide:
-business value
-personal value
-knowledge about something
-attention
-accountability
-skills
-a service
-perspective
-a change in the way they do things
By understanding what you provide, you become clearer about your true value. You took time to learn about your product or the services you are offering and your expertise and knowledge is worth something. What is the value of your experience and expertise and how do you bring that to your customers? Don’t forget your time and energy have a monetary value as well as the services you provide. What is your time worth- what is your energy worth- what are you worth and what do you bring that only you can bring? Knowledge= Value. Again, I will use my coaching as an example. I continually work on my skill set so my knowledge and value continues to grow. I have expertise and training in life coaching that is beneficial to my clients and I help them come up with their own answers and I hold them accountable for creating their own success. This may not be tangible, but if I know what I bring to my clients, I am better able to calculate the value. What do you have/offer that is valuable to your clients or customers?
6. Let go of your fear and charge what you are worth. Now that you have gone through the list above, you should be clearer on what you offer your clients and customers. By understanding that value, it should be easier to charge what you are worth. If you still feel hesitant, is it your own self-worth or your fear of rejection that is holding your back? Is your self-judgment getting in the way? For your clients to value your services and to be fully invested in your products, you have to value what you are offering as well. They won’t fully commit to you and your products or services if you don’t charge for the value you bring. If you give it all away for free and if you don’t think you are valuable, how can you expect your customers to understand how great you are? You are the only one limiting what you can charge!
Use these tips to help find your true and unique value. Remember, if you are new to your businesses, when you are starting out, it is ok to practice your skills by offering some things for free, but as you gain experience and knowledge, it is time to charge what you are really worth. It is time to place value on you and your products or services and to be comfortable charging for what you offer. Let your customers know the true value of you!
Questions:
Do you have trouble charging for your services?
Do you know what true value you bring to your customers or clients?
Do you charge what you are worth?
How can you become clearer on what differentiates you from other people doing something similar?
How can you present yourself as an expert and share what knowledge you bring to your customers?
How can you make them excited to spend money on what you are offering? How can you make it clear as to what you offer?
Why is it a struggle to charge what you know you offer?
Enjoy the journey!
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Comments
i don’t feel like i always charge what i’m worth, i admit. i create and sell home decor items. even with the popularity of etsy, people still don’t always appreciate the value of handmade. i get discouraged when i see what other people are charging for similar items, because i know i can’t charge that low. i try and emphasize how well made my items are (i know b/c i use them in my daily life!) but often i feel like people are pulled by the all-mighty dollar amount. reading this makes me realize i need to do even MORE to differentiate my items value. because my work is worth it. 🙂