If you’re doing great work, offering a great service, but struggling to make money, be assured that you’re not alone. You need the confidence to charge what you’re worth.

So, what is it that you need to overcome to generate the income you deserve?

You may be surprised to hear that it’s our mindset that holds us back. New service providers are stuck in the cycle of undercharging. But every day we continue to undercharge for our services we will damage our credibility. Everyday we damage our credibility in this way it affects the way that we attract clients. We attract what we think we deserve.

I have been following Nell Merlino, an international expert and advocate for women’s leadership, business growth and empowerment. She launched Make Mine a Million $ Business in 2006 and has been famously quoted as saying, ‘If you are making $50,000 or less in business, its not a business, it’s a job, and its not a good job either.’

If you were working 14-15 hours a day and generated less than $50,000 you would say something needs to change. Yet every day people are willing to consistently undercharge for the value that they give. Why is it so hard to charge what you’re worth?

All the excuses

Here are the top four excuses I hear business owners give for not charging what they deserve:

1. I am having trouble getting clients now so I can’t ask for any more money.
2. I don’t really know how much I am worth or what to charge.
3. I am too scared to raise my prices, as my clients don’t have that much money.
4. I am here to help people, and times are bad so they can’t afford to pay.

How many of these excuses have you heard or even made yourself?

But what’s it really about?

What I’ve found is that there is always another reason for the reluctance to charge and earn more. These hit on the emotional burden of running your own business. Things like:

• An insecurity about the value that you can bring.
• A lack of understanding of the key outcomes you deliver.
• A failure to realize that prices that are too low attract clients and customers that can’t pay.
• Mistaking pricing as the most important driver in business.
• Vagueness about numbers.

It’s time to move on from this limited thinking and start to charge what you’re worth.  So, here’s what to do differently.

1. Know your USPs

This is about your competitive edge. Know how you are different and better than the others. If you haven’t got a point of difference in your business, find one. It’s your ‘unicornication’ (yes that’s really a word). This is why clients are going to hire you.

2. Reach further

Keep reaching further than you ever thought possible.

Promote, promote, promote. Word of mouth is free advertising, but don’t limit yourself to this. Market and promote your business and expand where you are known. How can you expand your circle of influence?

3. Know what’s holding you back

Understand and work through your blocks and fears.

Know and then overcome your own personal blocks with money. Revise your relationship with money and earn what you deserve.

4. Respect yourself and your time

Learn to say NO to requests for your time and money that undervalue what you are worth. Know what you are worth and command respect for that. If you don’t do it yourself no one else will.

5. Ask for help

Everyone needs help sometimes to build and strengthen their business. Take a class, read some books, find a mentor, delegate what you can so you can focus on what you do best and leave the other work to what they do best.

6. Charge 20 per cent more starting today

Yes, just do it. It is up to you what you decide to do with your existing clients, but from today any new clients need to pay you more. Starting today. If you are not charging enough, there is something holding you back.  Learn what’s holding you back so that you can overcome your fears and charge what you are truly worth.

So do you really want a ‘business’ where you continue to serve, or do you want a ‘job’?

This article was originally published in 2017 and has been updated for 2022.

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