Whether you have been an entrepreneur for a while, new to consultancy, or you're getting frustrated with how much you are earning; you will likely want to raise your rates at some point in time.

Here are the observations that I hear when clients are considering raising their rates, but blocks or limiting beliefs are holding them back.

• My clients may go to someone who charges less
• My existing clients will go and I’ll be out of business
• My clients are going to be annoyed when I raise my rates
• My clients will not understand the rate increases
• My clients will complain to others about my rates
• Peers are going to make negative comments about who am I to charge those rates

Let me say this to you right now: these are all common blocks to have.

What is so wrong with wanting to charge more?

Many entrepreneurs do raise their rates for several commercial and lifestyle reasons.

• They are fully booked and earnings become capped
• The margins for their consultancy rates isn’t enough after expenses to earn the take-home money they desire
• To cover the expenses of non-revenue based support staff to provide excellent customer service
• To reflect increases in the cost of doing business

What I’m going to ask you to do is to step back from the emotions and fears around raising your rates and look at this from a purely commercial point of view.

Commercial Decision

Dive deep into the turnover and profit margins within your current business. Determine your worked hours per week both on fee-paying work and also on support/marketing/business work.

Then ask yourself, are those margins enough to continually invest in your training to be great at what you do, to cover a growing support team, and to take home the money you desire?

Be ready to let go

Like many things in life, a business goes through growth cycles. It is entirely plausible that when you put up your rates some clients will naturally move away from you to look for cheaper alternatives. When you are considering raising your rates, also look at those existing clients who provide excellent value to you, not only in revenue per client but also in referrals and recommendations.

If a client does have a high value to you, there is the option to keep them on their existing rate and grant them this legacy rate for a designated time.

Explain but don’t apologise

"I’m sorry but my prices are going up.....". How does that make you feel to read that sentence?

Not great right?

Yes, you may want to explain to your clients why prices are rising, but it’s important not to apologise.

You have nothing to apologise for

It’s your business, you are in charge, and you can charge whatever you like. Even if that figure doesn’t fit with industry standards.

You set the rules.

So is it time to raise your rates in business? 

If your intuition has brought you to this post because, yes, you would like to raise your rates, then HELL YES it’s time to seriously consider doing so.

In my experience, your rates should feel uncomfortable when you first mention them. They should make you enough money to run your business as a scalable and profitable business, without the requirement of burnout to do so.

So what do you desire to charge?

Love,

Laura

PS >> If you are an entrepreneur who is considering raising their rates, loves what you do and hates to sell. It’s time to sharpen those self-worth and sales skills, to sell in integrity and increase your conversion rate. You can do this on Persuasion self-study course for under 3 figures.