Price is a commitment about what the business can afford to deliver. A service that sells easily but cannot fund the work is creating a delivery problem every time a customer says yes.
- 01Cost the complete job
- 02Explain the scope
- 03Model the change
- 04Review the result
Cost the complete job
Start with a representative completed project. Include sales time, onboarding, production, coordination, revisions and support. Separate direct delivery costs from shared overhead, then make sure the remaining contribution can support that overhead.
Founder time often disappears from this calculation because it is not invoiced internally. Record it anyway. A model that only works while the founder supplies unpaid labour has a constraint worth making visible.
Explain the scope
Define the result, the deliverables, the approval stages and the limits. A higher price without a clear promise is difficult to assess; an expansive promise without limits is difficult to deliver. Customers should understand both before committing.
If different customers need different levels of service, distinguish the packages by meaningful scope. Avoid adding arbitrary restrictions just to make the middle option look attractive.
Model the change
Use scenarios rather than assuming that a price increase leaves demand unchanged. What happens if fewer customers buy? What happens if the mix shifts toward complex jobs? Where does extra support consume the expected improvement?
A discount has the same requirement. Explain which cost, scope or commercial condition makes the lower price workable. Discounting without changing the underlying economics simply transfers the pressure into delivery.
Review the result
Track contribution, sales quality, delivery time and customer outcomes together. A price change is successful when the business can deliver its promise sustainably to the right customers. The highest conversion rate is not automatically the best operating model.