Five Lessons for Five Years In Business
Know Your Worth, Charge Accordingly
Let’s be clear, your worth can never be summed up in an invoice. No one will ever be able to pay what you're worth because you are a human being, divinely created with talents, skills, and abilities that no one else can duplicate. But you do need to know how much to charge for your products and services.
It can be hard to know what to charge a client in a proposal, especially when you're just starting your business. You may agonize over what you feel the potential client is willing to pay and lowball the offer (and yourself!). If you have money insecurities and are uncomfortable “talking dollars,” this may be difficult. But as entrepreneurs, we do hard things. When it comes to figuring out what you should charge, there are several things to consider.
First, consider how much your time is worth. When you sign on with a new client on a monthly retainer, they will monopolize a certain number of hours of your creative mental energy from you per week. If you undercharge for your time you will end up resenting the client, which will be reflected in the quality of your work.
Next, think about how much money you need to live. The Rising Tide group for creative entrepreneurs helped me understand this. They recommend you calculate how much money you need to live on in a month to support your life and business. Divide this number by how many clients you can realistically serve in a month. This number is what you should charge per client.
For example, you need $8,000 per month to pay your bills (and taxes), make your contributions (tithes/donations), and fund your business.
You feel you can realistically serve four clients per month.
$8,000 / 4 = $2,000 per client.
Compare this number to what other service providers in your industry charge. What additional value can you provide to earn this level of retainer each month?
Outline Deliverables and Upcharge for Add-ons
The best thing you can do as a business leader is to protect your mental and creative energy. This happens up front when you first sign a contract with a new client. You must outline the specific deliverables that you will provide over the course of the agreement.
You can't predict the future of what your client relationship will look like then. They may trust you fully to do the work (independently) that you've outlined in your deliverables. Other clients will ask (demand) more and more from you. They will take and take. That's why having agreed-upon deliverables up front will protect you and your time from being stolen.
When a client asks you to go above and beyond, charge them accordingly.
I made this mistake early on in my business. I was so desperate to sign my first client. I was laid off from my state job and needed income to support my family. From the beginning, he began to ask more and more.
“Can you write this article?”
“Can we launch a bi-weekly newsletter?”
“Let’s start a Facebook group!”
This particular client had lots of ideas but had zero follow-through. All of this was outside the scope of work we agreed upon. As a naive entrepreneur, I wanted to provide value and go above and beyond. The more I said “yes,” the more I was spread thin, and the overall quality of my work declined. You see, when you have too many priorities, you simply can’t provide high-value service as a one-woman enterprise. I couldn’t provide real value and results with all the new projects I was juggling. So what do you think happened? He dropped me. I’m glad it happened because I learned a valuable lesson!
Set Boundaries (And Keep Them)
I learned very early on in my career not to answer work phone calls or emails after 5 PM. This was a mandate from my husband when we first got married. He felt neglected when I was looking at my phone when we were supposed to be having quality time together in the evenings after work. I'm grateful he helped me with this before becoming an entrepreneur. As I grew my business, my clients would have gladly taken more and more time from me.
We’ve all received those frantic emails and texts after 8 PM. My Mantra is, “There are no marketing emergencies.” I respond first thing the next day during business hours. Eventually, the late-night messages stopped, and my clients learned to respect my boundaries. I never had to confront them. All I did was set the standard.
You show people how to treat you by the way you respond (react) to them.
Under-promise and Over-deliver
This is Entrepreneurship 101. You got into business to be your own boss and make up the rules. No one else is holding you accountable except yourself. You've got to over-deliver. Blow your clients away. Show off your skills and expertise — this is the fun part!
Give Yourself Grace
I heard Olympic athlete and entrepreneur Louise Hazel say, “As a business owner, you’re attempting to do what 95% of the population can’t. You are elite already!”
The truth is being your own boss is a lot different from being an employee. No one will know if you don't show up to work for the day. No one knows if you skipped your lunch. No one is there to see you crying at your desk. You are on your own, and it is hard.
The first few days of operating my business all by myself were VERY lonely. My husband would leave for the day to go to work, and our apartment would get so quiet. I had no one to turn to for feedback or guidance. No one was there to bounce ideas off of. There was a lot of self-doubt, self-loathing, and frustration.
I had to learn to stop beating myself up mentally and give myself grace. One of the best things I did was sign up for group coaching. In this specific group coaching, we had time to ask questions on Zoom from the group. Other business owners and coaches would weigh in and answer. The more I showed up and listened to the other ladies on the call, I realized they were facing the same challenges and struggles I was! Finally, the burden of it all started to melt away, knowing that I wasn’t the only one who felt like I did. This was so freeing. Over time, I could build up mental callouses, so when I faced disappointments in my work, they wouldn’t take me out for the whole day.
Entrepreneurship is an evolution. You get better at being you and being a business owner every day. That means that today, you may lack skills, but tomorrow you’ll learn to fill in the gap. Thus, giving yourself grace is essential to your survival.
As I was writing this article, I couldn’t help but think of a few other things that I’ve learned along the way that have helped me grow as a business owner. If you want a bonus, click here to read more (5 Hacks for Balancing a Full Roster of Clients).
