Small Business Tip: Your Self Esteem Determines Your Profits
Small Business Tip: Your Self Esteem Determines Your Profits
These days you can ask someone their political views and you will generally get an answer. You can ask someone their religious affiliation and they will tell you. You can even ask them their favourite sexual position and most people will giggle and then come up with an answer. But ... ask them what their credit card debt is or how much they earnt last year and you will get embarrassed mumblings or silence.
We are happier to talk about anything else – except money! How weird is that in a society of such openness?
So while we are talking about money and taboos – here is another one. Your earning potential as a mompreneur is directly related to your self esteem. You will only earn to the level of your personal confidence level.
To give you some examples – a wonderful and highly skilled person I know helps small businesses plan for their business. She is an accomplished author and has decades of experience in growing small businesses. Recently she helped one person write a strategic plan for their business – she spent a few hours talking their plan through with them and wrote up the end plan for them. She only charged her client about $250 for the work. Her client was ecstatic about the results.
The same day I heard about this person, I had lunch with a much less skilled consultant. He is big on talk and small on technical skill. He facilitates strategic planning workshops for small businesses. The only difference is he stands up in front of a group of 2-3 people to help them create their plan and he does not write it up for them at the end – he leaves that for the client to do. His fee - $9000. His clients are ecstatic about the results.
What is the difference? Is one person truly worth over $8500 more than the other person? Is one product truly $8500 better than the other? If you put the two plans together will you see any differences?
The answer is no – the only real difference is one person believes they are worth $1167 per hour and the other believes they are worth $40 per hour. That is what they are paid.
I see this a lot with freelance writers and designers. Their fee schedule will often vary depending on their emotional state. If they are feeling strong and confident they will charge one set of fees and if they have had a knock-back then they will charge another set of fees.
If someone asks the question “is that really the fee – can’t you do any better than that” they will automatically give a discount or reduce their fees.
If I had to make a blanket statement it would be that most small businesses undercharge rather than overcharge their clients. We get caught up with the idea that we MUST make this sale at all costs, and settle for much less as a result.
So here are my top 10 tips to help turn this around for your business if you are in an industry where you can set your own fees.
1. Write down your schedule of fees. Now add at least 10% more to compensate for your self-esteem undercharging. Print off your price list and keep them by your phone.
2. NEVER give quotes over the phone – always email or post back a written quote so you can truly consider all of the work that will go into the job and quote accordingly (include everything in your costings - travel time, thinking time, research time, petrol, phone calls, your years of experience).
3. If a client is a “pain” add in a PIA loading (pain in the ass) to their quote. You know some clients are going to cause you stress – impossible deadlines, wanting long deep meaningful chats that chew into your time or slow payments. Factor this into your quote if you can’t say no to taking them on as a client.
4. Never quote on a day when you are feeling flat or “less than”. You will undercut yourself.
5. Practice saying “my scheduled fee for this is ...” and then shutting up. This is for those times you break tip 2.
6. Do your research on the industry. Being the cheapest person working in the industry is not a badge of pride if you can’t afford to feed your family.
7. Be clear when you will discount – for example if someone pays in full up front or the person belongs to a charity you believe in (and not because someone just asks you). Could you imagine going to McDonalds, placing your order and when being told the amount saying “can’t you do any better?”
8. Write out at least 100 reasons why you are worth the price you charge.
9. Get testimonials from your clients – review them often and you will begin to see the difference you make to people.
10. Ask your friends and your business coach what they think of your fees and listen to their feedback. And yes – this is breaking the first taboo of not talking about money.
Remember – your self esteem determines your earning potential.
Small Business Tip Your Self Esteem Determines Your Profits - To learn more about this author, visit Ingrid Cliff's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
Money is the last great taboo in society.
These days you can ask someone their political views and you will generally get an answer. You can ask someone their religious affiliation and they will tell you. You can even ask them their favourite sexual position and most people will giggle and then come up with an answer. But ... ask them what their credit card debt is or how much they earnt last year and you will get embarrassed mumblings or silence.
We are happier to talk about anything else – except money! How weird is that in a society of such openness?
So while we are talking about money and taboos – here is another one. Your earning potential as a mompreneur is directly related to your self esteem. You will only earn to the level of your personal confidence level.
To give you some examples – a wonderful and highly skilled person I know helps small businesses plan for their business. She is an accomplished author and has decades of experience in growing small businesses. Recently she helped one person write a strategic plan for their business – she spent a few hours talking their plan through with them and wrote up the end plan for them. She only charged her client about $250 for the work. Her client was ecstatic about the results.
The same day I heard about this person, I had lunch with a much less skilled consultant. He is big on talk and small on technical skill. He facilitates strategic planning workshops for small businesses. The only difference is he stands up in front of a group of 2-3 people to help them create their plan and he does not write it up for them at the end – he leaves that for the client to do. His fee - $9000. His clients are ecstatic about the results.
What is the difference? Is one person truly worth over $8500 more than the other person? Is one product truly $8500 better than the other? If you put the two plans together will you see any differences?
The answer is no – the only real difference is one person believes they are worth $1167 per hour and the other believes they are worth $40 per hour. That is what they are paid.
I see this a lot with freelance writers and designers. Their fee schedule will often vary depending on their emotional state. If they are feeling strong and confident they will charge one set of fees and if they have had a knock-back then they will charge another set of fees.
If someone asks the question “is that really the fee – can’t you do any better than that” they will automatically give a discount or reduce their fees.
If I had to make a blanket statement it would be that most small businesses undercharge rather than overcharge their clients. We get caught up with the idea that we MUST make this sale at all costs, and settle for much less as a result.
So here are my top 10 tips to help turn this around for your business if you are in an industry where you can set your own fees.
1. Write down your schedule of fees. Now add at least 10% more to compensate for your self-esteem undercharging. Print off your price list and keep them by your phone.
2. NEVER give quotes over the phone – always email or post back a written quote so you can truly consider all of the work that will go into the job and quote accordingly (include everything in your costings - travel time, thinking time, research time, petrol, phone calls, your years of experience).
3. If a client is a “pain” add in a PIA loading (pain in the ass) to their quote. You know some clients are going to cause you stress – impossible deadlines, wanting long deep meaningful chats that chew into your time or slow payments. Factor this into your quote if you can’t say no to taking them on as a client.
4. Never quote on a day when you are feeling flat or “less than”. You will undercut yourself.
5. Practice saying “my scheduled fee for this is ...” and then shutting up. This is for those times you break tip 2.
6. Do your research on the industry. Being the cheapest person working in the industry is not a badge of pride if you can’t afford to feed your family.
7. Be clear when you will discount – for example if someone pays in full up front or the person belongs to a charity you believe in (and not because someone just asks you). Could you imagine going to McDonalds, placing your order and when being told the amount saying “can’t you do any better?”
8. Write out at least 100 reasons why you are worth the price you charge.
9. Get testimonials from your clients – review them often and you will begin to see the difference you make to people.
10. Ask your friends and your business coach what they think of your fees and listen to their feedback. And yes – this is breaking the first taboo of not talking about money.
Remember – your self esteem determines your earning potential.
Small Business Tip Your Self Esteem Determines Your Profits - To learn more about this author, visit Ingrid Cliff's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 | |
 |
No article feedback found. |
| |
Leave Your Feedback |
 | |
| |||
Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
|||
Cheryl MatthynssensCheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur. Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well. A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles. She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide- to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being. Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com - Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website |
|||
John AlexanderJohn has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center. I look forward to hearing from you! - Visit John Alexander's Website |
|||
John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
|||
David BarrDavid Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website |
|||
Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
|||
Casey GollanCasey Gollan, Business Coaching & Mentoring Programs. Add $1 Million to $10 Million in the next 1 to 3 years. Since 1996 Casey has to added hundreds of millions of dollars to businesses. Watch a free video see client results Business Coaching website. - Visit Casey Gollan's Website |
|||
Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
 | |
|  |
Subscribe to Ingrid's articles
 | |
|
|  |
 | |
|
| |
 | |||||||
|
 | ||
|
||
|
||
 |
||
|
| ||
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
|
|
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"
Click Here To Learn More |
|
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
|
 Intentional Leadership Integrity Aromatic Networking Entrepreneur Flight Manual Take the Lead Benefit From Analytics |
|
 | ||
 |
Top 50 Social Media Blogs
Top 50 Social Media Blogs | |
 |
Top 50 Raising Capital Blogs
Top Blogs To Watch In 2008 | |
| ||
 | ||||
| ||||
|
| ||||
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
|
|
|
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||