The surprising reasons why you struggle to raise your rates successfully
Attention business owners! Are you struggling with raising your rates confidently and successfully? Do you find yourself feeling undervalued and underpaid in your own business?
Let’s explore some of the reasons why you may be facing difficulties when it comes to elevating your prices and successfully charging premium rates. In this blog post I’ll walk through the hidden factors that could be holding you back and give you ways of overcoming them. From understanding the mindset shifts you need to undergo to having the game plan for your business to get there, this blog post focuses on taking your business to the next level. Don't let your pricing struggles hold you back any longer.
But first I want to level with you.
Does this sound familiar?
It can be very difficult to increase your rates and then to show up in a way that your dream clients are happy to book you. You may find yourself stuck a constant loop of:
Charging below your worth - you’re either stuck in the current level of rates or constantly offering discounts or special deals and you don’t know how to successfully change that.
Not working with your ideal clients - You’re not attracting and converting your ideal clients, you are mainly dealing with people who are shopping around and looking to find a bargain. Your audience is filled with other vendors or people who are not your dream clients.
Feeling undervalued and underpaid - your own business is not giving you fulfillment and the freedom that charging higher rates affords you.
Perhaps you've tried raising your rates in the past as is. You likely got sick and tired of dreading the day when you have to pay your bills, counting every dollar you spend, not being able to invest in yourself or in your business and feeling stuck. That day you decided that you're tired of settling for less than you deserve and you’re just going to try it. You likely talked yourself into raising your rates that exact day or shortly after because you felt like it was the right time.
But chances are, if you didn’t have your calendar 100% booked with clients before then they definitely didn’t jump at the higher pricing. What happens next is you usually start seeing people rejecting your offers or even ghosting you. To counter that you try everything you can just to hold on to the new rates you thought of. You likely start using some of these strategies:
Hiding your rates - excluding your pricing from your website in hopes that it will lead to you being able to charge higher rates.
Offering discounts, promotional offers or free shoots in hopes that people will see your worth and you’ll eventually be able to charge your elevated rates.
Matching client budgets - you accept the budgets that your clients come to you with only to end up charging below worth.
To be more visible, you spend hours each day on Instagram and Facebook creating countless reels to trendy music, ‘being social’, chasing people in DMs and trying to ‘provide value’.
Pitching your services in Facebook groups to anyone who mentions anything remotely close to your services only to be drowning in a sea of other comments. Maybe that ended up getting you a few clients from all that?
Sending cold DMs or cold emails.
I completely understand that this is a tough spot to be in. While these strategies might generate some results in the short term, they don’t bring consistent, amazing results in the long term and they will definitely not bring you the stability and confidence of your financial situation. These strategies can also lead to struggling to make ends meet and feeling very undervalued and unmotivated.
If you are dreaming of a business that brings you joy AND financial stability but don’t know how to get there, then know that you’re not alone and it is possible to turn it around.
So why do your attempts to raise rates fail?
If you jump in unprepared and without a plan, then this will not work. For the most part, it all comes down to having the right mindset and to how prepared you are.
This is part 1 of “Surprising reasons why you struggle to raise your rates successfully” - mindset.
Let’s discuss how your mindset impacts your success as a business owner. Specifically, learn how certain mindset patterns can be the main reason why you struggle to raise your rates and then stick with them. Plus, let’s discuss how having a good mindset is one of the most important assets you can have for leveling up your business.
How does mindset impact your success?
So how does your mindset play a role? Let’s dive into what mindset patterns are the main reason why you struggle to raise your rates and stick with them.
Fear of being rejected and/or losing clients
Are you scared that no-one will book you or that your clients will leave if you raise your rates? Are you afraid of rejection? This is one of the most common fears that business owners face, what if clients suddenly lose interest in you? What if raising your rates turns them all running the other way? What if they no longer like you? What if they can’t afford your new prices? What if… There’s a million what ifs you can think of but at the root of this fear is the fear of the unknown. This fear can be so strong that it keeps you stuck and holds you back from charging what you are worth.
But as you already know from having taken many leaps of faith, all good things happen outside of your comfort zone. Same goes for elevating your business finances and raising your rates, you will need to be a bit uncomfortable at first.
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Lack of confidence
If you’re not confident in your own abilities and your work then you’ll end up not raising your rates. This is the ultimate form of self-sabotage. It’s you against you. It’s your mind playing tricks on you making you feel inferior. Let me ask you this - are you feeling insecure and afraid that your work might not be good enough to justify premium rates? Are you feeling scared and self-conscious about the increased pressure that comes with premium rates? Are you experiencing self-doubt? Do you feel like an imposter? A lot of business owners experience nervousness and self-doubt so this is normal but it’s not ok if this fear and lack of confidence paralyzes you and keeps you stuck.
There’s also a lot of service-based businesses that rely heavily on word of mouth, referrals and family & friends for the survival of their business. This can lead to feeling a lot of pressure and almost a sense of “responsibility” to keep your current lower rates. Without confidence in your own abilities and work you won’t be able to charge higher rates successfully and consistently.
Lacking structure and clarity
This is an important one, without clarity and structure in your own mind there can’t be confidence nor the results that you want to achieve so badly. If you’re constantly feeling overwhelmed and stressed, if you feel like you’re pulled in a hundred different directions, if you listen to advice from anyone and everyone on social media, if you try to implement everyone’s advice in your own business… if you are trying to do all these things at the same time then you will not get anywhere. If you feel like you have enough things to juggle, you need to take a step back. Turn off all the noise, refocus and introduce structure and clarity into the process. Trying to navigate your business finances through chaos and a fragmented approach is likely because you don’t know how to properly price your services in a way that accurately reflects your skills and experience so you end up undercharging and undervaluing your services. You need to have a clear goal, clear plan and structure in your approach to getting from A to B. That starts in your own mind.
Why is having a good mindset so important?
So what is a good mindset? This is a topic that books are written about and I know I can’t give you all the answers. But I wanted to give you some of the most impactful ideas that I attribute to most of my success stories in hopes that some of it helps you too.
First off, I cannot overstate how having a good mindset is EVERYTHING. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur or an experienced business owner, understanding and utilizing the power of the right mindset makes or breaks your success. It impacts virtually every aspect of your ability to achieve your goals and thrive in the ever-changing world of entrepreneurship.
Positive attitude
It all starts with a positive attitude. I truly believe that you can’t achieve anything in life or business without positivity. It is crucial for building a successful business because it shapes the way you approach all challenges and hurdles along the way. I’ve always thought of myself as a very positive person but I also recognise that there are so many moments where my positivity and optimism have been shaky if not gone altogether and that’s been a key decisive factor in determining my success.
A positive mindset will focus you on your vision, your goals and your successes and help you overcome obstacles and setbacks. So when you face a hurdle or a set back, instead of giving up or getting discouraged, you will look for solutions and opportunities to overcome these challenges. You will recognise how any challenge is only a small part of your larger entrepreneurial journey. And you can’t leave this to chance — you need to actively recognise negative thoughts and choose to think positively. If you do, you’ll see new possibilities and opportunities for growth no matter what comes your way and generally feel happier.
A focused approach
Besides having a good attitude, you also need laser sharp focus. This is my #1 thing that I keep returning to - being intentional, efficient, strategic and focused. I’ve worked in a very high-stakes and high-stress environment and I truly believe that most of my success comes from maintaining focus in anything I do. Being focused is crucial for your success because it forces you to prioritize, put all your time and efforts towards achieving your goal and minimize distractions. Lacking focus can end up in a lot of wasted time, decreased efficiency and productivity as well as failure to achieve your goals.
And if you didn’t connect the dots already, there’s a very clear reason my business is called Focused Design Co. If you were to look up the word “focused” in a dictionary, it is defined as “giving a lot of attention, time, effort, etc. to one particular area, and knowing exactly what you want to achieve” and that is at the core of my way of thinking about and approaching all projects and anything in life really. I believe that attention, time, dedicated efforts and focus are the most precious and valuable resources we have as ever-distracted humans. So I choose to approach every project by being focused on its strategic goals. The name Focused Design Co is a symbol of my promise to you - I will be focused on you.
By choosing to prioritize a focused-approach you can set yourself on a clear path towards success. This is the single most valuable and powerful mindset shift that you can adopt already today.
Resilience
You also need to adopt long-term thinking in order to foster resilience. Building a business is a long-term endeavor that requires a lot of time, effort, mental toughness and resilience. You’re bound to face set-backs but by having a good mindset and being resilient you are better equipped to handle any ups and downs that come your way. Resilience also helps you come up with new and creative solutions to challenges so you can grow and improve. You need to remember and truly believe that the actions you are doing now will pay off in the long run.
From my personal point of view, I’ve never really thought of myself as resilient, but rather stubborn. I’ve always been a headstrong person, if I had something in mind there’s very little that others can do to change my mind. Stubbornness has a negative ring to it but I believe that it’s helped me succeed in more ways than I can count. I now see that it’s my stubbornness that has made me resilient. It keeps me going when I face setbacks, it’s what makes me stick to my goals, to my vision and to my continued efforts to succeed. It keeps me focused on the end-goal and on the long-term vision. It allows me to get through the short-term setbacks. I call it my stubbornness because I refuse to accept any other outcome than the one that I’ve envisioned. I stubbornly stick to my goals and what I want even if it takes a long time, it’s hard and it gets loud. So I guess it’s a stubborn kind of resilience. If you can relate then don’t shy away from the word stubborn, instead, redefine what it means to you and understand how it benefits you.
In summary, having a good mindset leads you down a path towards your goals and success. It’s what keeps you going when you face challenges and it helps you get through difficult situations. It’s not a battle that can be won, it’s a continued effort and a conscious choice.
To get updates about part 2 of “Surprising reasons why you struggle to raise your rates successfully” - game plan - make sure to join our Mailing list now! I’ll discuss what you need to successfully raise your rates with confidence and how to get to the game plan for going from struggling to survive to thriving.
Are you ready to raise your rates confidently?
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Who is this for - Business owners who want to start demanding their worth & confidently charge premium pricing.
What you can count on
Strategic partnership - Guidance and 1:1 support with strategy creation for raising your rates and attracting your dream clients + help with bringing your strategy to life. Project management done for you.
Clarity & structure - Clarity and structure of the process through consultations, guided questionnaires and checklists + resources for your success.
Peace of mind - I take the time to get to know you & answer all your questions so you know what to expect from our cooperation and feel comfortable with the approach.
Feel heard - 1:1 interactions and feedback & revision opportunities to ensure that you feel heard and understood and that we’re meeting your expectations.
Support for after - At the end of the project you’ll receive personalized implementation and tutorial calls as well as resources for your long-term success
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