Success Coaching – Charge What You’re Worth: Leverage What You Already Know
Many of the clients I work with come to entrepreneurship as their 
second career. They’ve worked in “corporate” and have had jobs. Most of my clients start their business in order to fulfill a dream or to deliver something that they feel so strongly about, something they know will help a lot of people and fill a void they see in the world.
They come to their business full of experience but not necessarily experience in their new business. Then it comes time to set their price. When I speak with people in this position and I ask them about their price I hear things like “I’m new so I’m offering a really low rate.” Or, “I was looking online and I saw other people charging $x, and I don’t have as much experience as them so I’m not charging as much.” Or, “I’m new so I haven’t actually charged anyone yet.”
I’m going to come right out and say it — I have a problem with this thinking.
All of your experience, your education, your training, what you learned on the job and in your life adds to your value. Sure I’ve taken coaching classes and learned about sales and marketing in order to run my business, but what makes me what I am is not the classes I’ve taken, but what I’ve truly learned. It started with my degree in Economics, which included a year I spent studying in England. It’s the 15 years I spent working on Wall Street in marketing and project management. It’s the relationships I made while I was there, the projects I worked on and the challenges I faced. It’s what I learn every day I show up to my own business. This is what I offer to my clients.
So many people tell me that they’re going to raise their prices just as soon as they have one more class under their belt or get one more certification. It’s time for you to recognize that what you have already learned is already incredibly valuable.
Take a look at what you’ve already learned and before you embark on yet another class to learn something else, stop to consider if you really need it or if it’s an excuse to keep you small.
Of course there are people more experienced and “better trained” then you are (there always will be). As my mentor says, “To a fourth grader a fifth grader is a god.” Isn’t it time for you to recognize the value you already have?
second career. They’ve worked in “corporate” and have had jobs. Most of my clients start their business in order to fulfill a dream or to deliver something that they feel so strongly about, something they know will help a lot of people and fill a void they see in the world. They come to their business full of experience but not necessarily experience in their new business. Then it comes time to set their price. When I speak with people in this position and I ask them about their price I hear things like “I’m new so I’m offering a really low rate.” Or, “I was looking online and I saw other people charging $x, and I don’t have as much experience as them so I’m not charging as much.” Or, “I’m new so I haven’t actually charged anyone yet.”
I’m going to come right out and say it — I have a problem with this thinking.
All of your experience, your education, your training, what you learned on the job and in your life adds to your value. Sure I’ve taken coaching classes and learned about sales and marketing in order to run my business, but what makes me what I am is not the classes I’ve taken, but what I’ve truly learned. It started with my degree in Economics, which included a year I spent studying in England. It’s the 15 years I spent working on Wall Street in marketing and project management. It’s the relationships I made while I was there, the projects I worked on and the challenges I faced. It’s what I learn every day I show up to my own business. This is what I offer to my clients.
So many people tell me that they’re going to raise their prices just as soon as they have one more class under their belt or get one more certification. It’s time for you to recognize that what you have already learned is already incredibly valuable.
Take a look at what you’ve already learned and before you embark on yet another class to learn something else, stop to consider if you really need it or if it’s an excuse to keep you small.
Of course there are people more experienced and “better trained” then you are (there always will be). As my mentor says, “To a fourth grader a fifth grader is a god.” Isn’t it time for you to recognize the value you already have?
Leave a Reply