Pricing your services as a new business owner can be a very daunting task, maybe even a task you don’t even know how to start. But let me ask you this:

• What if you didn’t feel guilty when sending out an invoice?
• What if you didn’t spend hours working on proposals for every new client?
• What if your service packages were templates and all you had to do was promote them?

What if I told you all of this was possible?

Before I get into how to price and package your creative service guilt & pain free, I’d like to preface this article with saying, IT’S OKAY TO CHANGE! Try different tactics with the season of business you’re in and see what works best for both you and your clients – it doesn’t have to be permanent.

How to price your services

Before I get into how to present your services to potential clients, we need to do some math (*cue the eye roll). I know, I’m literally the last person that likes to do math, but when you lay everything out, it allows you to feel justified in pricing your services and not feel guilty (because we all know what that feels like.

Step 1: Figure out your hourly rate

Goal salary / 2,080 (number of hours a salary-based employee works)

For example, mine is: $100,000 / 2,080 = $48, so my hourly rate is $50/hour and has been since I started my business last year.

It sounds like a lot, right? No, it isn’t. You have to take into consideration that at least (depending on where you live), 20% of that will be going to taxes. For me, I tell myself that 30% of what I make I’ll have to give back, just incase.

Step 2: Figure out how long it takes you to do each service

For this next step you can use a time tracker tool like togl or the time tracker in Dubsado (highly recommend), to help you know exactly how long different projects take you.

I recommend tracking rather than just looking at the time because it really helps to put things into perspective for you.

What to track:

• Emails
• Phone calls
• Meetings
• Driving to meetings
• Actually doing the work
• Preparing
• Research
• Unexpected revisions

**I usually add 2-3 hours just for emailing and phone calls per project

Yes, it sounds crazy, but when you’re packaging everything together you want to make sure you’re not getting underpaid and overworked.

When I first started, I felt bad charging anyone any price, so I was seriously undercharging everyone. This lead to frustration and me not doing my best work because I didn’t see the value you in it.

This step might take you a month or two to figure out and feel justified by the hours you’re working, but don’t underestimate yourself! If you look at a time on a project and you’re like “OMG I didn’t know it took me that long!”, GOOD. You needed that eye-opening.

Repeat this step with each individual service you’re offering,

Step 3: Step 1 x Step 2

Now, with all of your services multiply your hourly rate by the number of hours it takes you to do the project.

For example, if you’re a health coach and your hourly rate is $75. Then, you calculated for one month of coaching, which includes 24/7 emails, 2 phone calls, session notes and a meal plan takes you about 10 hours/month.

$75 x 10 = $750, so that is the price of your monthly coaching package.

Now you might be wondering, “Okay, but how do I propose this service to someone?”

Here are two different ways to propose your services:

1. Create your own package

A few months ago I took a poll on Instagram asking if people preferred fixed packages or they get to pick their own package based on their budget. The results: pick their own package.

I was very surprised at this outcome, but over the last few months I’ve gotten more new clients than not with this new tactic.

What I realized was that not every business was the same and when given the option, business owners would rather design packages that best suits their needs.

With this, however, I didn’t completely disregard my pricing of services, I just keep it to myself. When I am speaking to a potential new client, I tailor a proposal that’s specific to their needs, but keep in mind how long everything will take and price it accordingly.

The benefits to the client creating their own package:

• You’re giving them exactly what they want
• Potential to stay in their budget, but you know exactly what you can give them

Since I’ve priced out my hourly rate and know exactly how long projects will take, this way has proven to be very successful for both myself and my clients. I don’t feel guilty about sending the proposal and in return, I don’t feel as though I’m being underpaid during my projects.

In order to make these personalized package process go as smooth as possible, I’ve made templates for each service where I can rearrange and take out different parts of the package.

2. Fixed packaged

Another way to package your services is make a list of everything you do for your clients and create three different tier packages, each one having something a little extra than the other.

With this, you can create 1 – 3 different style packages with the fixed price (hourly rate x project hours) and have your clients pick which one they want.

This is the most common package you’ll see, but when creating these packages take into consideration the amount of hours it’ll take with every type of client. With this fixed package tactic, you really want to make sure you’ve accounted for every hour of the project, just in case you have a difficult client.

When proposing a new package to someone, it makes it so much easier on you and the client to feel confident about what you’re charging. Trust me, I still feel bad when sending an invoice to a client, but I know that some projects take longer than others and want to make sure I’m getting paid for all the work I’m doing!

Join me Mondays at 8 am PT / 12 pm ET on Instagram Live where I answer all of your business, marketing & design questions