“How much do I charge?” is one of the most common questions that coaches have when they are beginning. There are several things to consider when setting your fees for products and services. Here are a few:
Money Mindset
Pricing can be a challenging decision. Often, coaches undervalue themselves and price their work much lower than what’s possible. They also “spiritualize” money because they just want to help people. They may find themselves feeling guilty for charging, making conversations about money awkward and difficult.
Understanding your personal money mindset is really important. The truth is, you will only charge what you feel you are worth. Exploring your relationship with money will help.
“How much do I charge?” is a question every coach must answer.
Competition
You must know your competition. Who is offering similar services and what are they charging? Review websites and look at product descriptions. What are they promising to deliver? What value do you see? Compare it to your offering and determine what gives you an edge.
This research will give you insight into what is going on and what pricing your market can bear.
Time Commitment
Consider how much time you are committing when delivering your workshop or coaching services. You have likely spent tons of time developing your materials, drafting a script, creating a slide deck. How long will it take you to prepare beforehand? Will you add transit time? And what kind of post work will you have, adding even more time?
Time is money. Accounting for it can increase your profit.
Every business has expenses and a coaching practice is no different.
Expenses
Every business has expenses and a coaching practice is no different. Document any supply costs that need to be passed on to your client for assessments or worksheets. You may have to buy name tags or pens, or refreshments if you are hosting a corporate retreat or having a team building day. Facility fees or costs for AV equipment need to be included. All expenses reduce your income and capturing them accurately will help you meet your goals.
How Much do I Charge?
As you can now see, there is much involved in answering the question, “How much do I charge?” Only you can answer it! Be bold and confident – and with a little research, charge fair market value right from the start!
Check out The Coach Business Guide: The Path to Launch and Grow your Coaching Practice, Chapter 14 – Pricing for more information and help.
I definitely like that you talk about expenses. Lots of coaches undercharge for what they need to earn to sustain their businesses.
Low fees at the start can make it tough to raise them.
In building websites and helping coaches “get out there”, I’ve seen that they can become a big fish in their small pond (networks or niche if they so brave one!), and I think the competition issue falls away. It’s like there is no competition if you start spending even a little time with a new potential client who has been sprinkled with some know-like-trust magic dust.
😀
So often coaches fall in love with each new client and then start hunting for new ones in that category. They don’t stick with their original Ideal Client, never develop a package to address their needs, never determine what their competition is doing. It causes them to bump up against competition because they never did enough research. That’s our experience after working with hundreds of coaches!