There is one very important rule about pricing that if ignored can kill a business. Price is relative to buyer. If your business sells a quality product, there will be some who cannot afford what you sell. If you sell a premium service, set a premium price and expect to hear from some prospects that your prices are too high. Certainly your prices will be too high for those who cannot afford your product or service. Not everyone can afford the best. Be honest with yourself about what you sell and price appropriately.

Trying to please all people by constantly adjusting price is going to pull your margin down. Those who demand the lower price will also want the premium service you promise in all of your marketing materials. They will want the best quality too. They have a right to premium service and top quality if that’s what you advertise even though they aren’t paying a premium price. I promise you, they will assert that right and you will lose time and money trying to please the bargain hunter.

The ideal customer, willing to pay for the best, knows that the price-cutter isn’t the best.

The sooner you wake up to this, the better.

Rather than take that ‘cheap’ project, spend the time improving your business. Spend time doing the most important thing a business owner/manager can do: Think. Time spent thinking will produce a far greater return that time wasted on a “loss leader” sale.

Chris Reich, TeachU