Should I raise my prices?

Most price increases are decided emotionally and communicated badly. Done carefully, this is the highest-leverage change most small businesses can make.

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Key factors to consider

Current margin reality

Work out true unit economics including your own time. Many businesses discover they're subsidising their busiest customers.

Demand signal

Full pipeline, long waitlists and instant yeses all suggest you're under-priced.

Churn sensitivity

Estimate how many customers you can lose and still come out ahead. It's usually more than it feels.

Positioning

Price is a claim about quality. A rise works better alongside a visible change in what's delivered.

Communication and timing

Notice period, grandfathering existing customers and a clear reason cushion the change substantially.

Common mistakes

  • Raising prices by an apologetic amount that doesn't fix the problem.
  • Announcing with no notice and no explanation.
  • Applying the same increase to every segment.
  • Never testing the higher price on new customers first.
  • Competing on price against someone with a lower cost base.

Questions to ask yourself

  1. 1.What's my real margin per customer, including my own hours?
  2. 2.How many customers could I lose before this is a net loss?
  3. 3.What would justify this price to a sceptical existing customer?
  4. 4.Should existing customers be grandfathered, and for how long?
  5. 5.Could I test the new price on new customers for 60 days first?

Ready to decide?

ThatEcho turns this into your own workspace — goals, criteria, weighted options and a transparent recommendation you can question.

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