5 Ways To Increase Your Salary Without Increasing Your Prices
If you’ve ever uttered the words “I wish I earned more”, then you’ll be used to hearing everyone’s automatic response...
“Oh, you should just put your prices up!”
That seems to be the standard response that people give whenever you mention cashflow, paying yourself more, or just having a little extra to invest in the business.
But, sometimes it’s just not practical to raise your prices.
And if the solution was that simple, you would have raised them already!
So, what can you do?
It’s not like you can wish on a star for more moolah or hope that a money tree will just sprout in your backyard!
Luckily, there are a number of ways that you can earn more without needing to increase your prices.
And today, I am going to share 5 of my favourite ways with you. Read on to find out what they are.
5 Ways To Earn More WITHOUT Increasing Your Prices
#1. REVIEW YOUR COSTS
I know, everyone tells you to cut down on your costs to make your money go further.
And you may even have undertaken a cost review exercise before. But, I want you to review your costs with this one thought in mind:
Every dollar you spend with someone else is one dollar less for you.
This will help you prioritise where you should actually be putting your money.
Investing in the RIGHT areas can help propel your business forward, and help you deliver more for less.
However, spending money on things you don't really need is just taking money out of your back pocket.
Making sure you're investing your money wisely is a great way of getting more money into your back pocket.
ACTIVITY:
Go back through your bank statements and credit card bills to see what you are spending your money on.
ASK YOURSELF:
#1. Are you still using that tool/resource?
#2. If you are, what does that investment enable you to achieve that you couldn't do without it?
#3. How much is that achievement worth in dollar terms?
#4. Are you making a good return on your investment?
TAKE ACTION:
If the investment is worth it, great, keep it!
If not, bin it and save your cash for something else (or better yet, yourself!)
#3 REVIEW YOUR SERVICES
We all like to provide value. But sometimes we chuck in all this extra 'stuff' to make something SEEM more valuable, but actually all it does is end up costing you more time.
Review how you tackle each project to see if you NEED to include all the aspects you currently throw in.
Are there aspects you can modify or change?
There may even be whole parts that you could cut out if they don’t deliver value to your clients.
Also explore if there are things you can automate or streamline - just because you have always done it one way doesn’t mean that it is the most efficient way!
Finally, are there tasks that you could outsource?
When you are exploring this option, you need to look at the cost effectiveness of outsourcing. Work out if you are able to outsource the task and still add a margin on top. If not, this will eat into the dollars you could be paying yourself.
ACTIVITY:
Review a couple of your previous projects or the standard service you currently offer
ASK YOURSELF:
#1 What activities add time and cost, but no real value?
#2 What activities can you streamline or automate?
#3 What activities could you outsource to a more cost effective resource while still adding a margin on top?
For more info check out 5 Steps To Creating Profitable Services More Of Your Clients Can Afford
#3. REVIEW YOUR TIME
Time is our most precious commodity - you only ever have a limited amount and you can't make more.
Finding the right balance between spending time on an activity that generates you money (usually known as working "in" your business) vs spending time helping your business to grow and develop (think working "on" your business) is really important.
While every person and every business is different, a rough guide for how to split your time is the 60/40 rule - 60% on revenue generating activity (aka "paying the bills"!) and 40% on business development (aka “working ON your biz”)
Consistently spending more than 60% of your time delivering client work can lead you to burning out.
It can also mean that your business growth stagnates as you aren’t dedicating enough time to nurturing your business. Eventually, you will find you reach a “glass ceiling” in your earnings that becomes difficult to punch through.
On the flipside, spending significantly less time on client work will mean that you aren’t bringing enough dollars into your business.
Striking the right balance will allow you to serve your clients well and still have the capacity to grow your business.
ACTIVITY:
For one week keep a note about where you spend your time - including time spent on client work and time spent doing everything else for your business.
ASK YOURSELF:
How much of my time is spent on activities that generate me money?
NEXT STEP:
If only a small portion of your time is spent delivering paid client work then that is simply going to limit what you can earn.
What could you do differently to increase the amount of time you spend working on paid client work to generate more revenue?
NOTE: If you're spending large portions of time just delivering client work but still not generating enough revenue to pay yourself a decent salary, then you probably do have a pricing issue.
Grab my 5 Steps To Increase Your Salary (without increasing your prices!) resource to discover how much you are earning per hour and where you can make changes to increase your profitability.
EXAMPLE:
One client I worked with discovered she was only spending about 45% of her time on billable client work. The next week she changed her priorities to focus on delivering her billable client work AND doubled her income in one week!
#4. REVIEW YOUR VALUE ADD
It’s always important to provide value for money for your clients - that’s how your reputation, credibility and referrals grow!
However providing value for money doesn’t HAVE to be labour intensive!
So while you may have just removed some activities or deliverables that added time but not much value, consider what you could ADD that provides value but doesn’t take much time!
ACTIVITY:
Think about what existing tools, resources, or reusable content you already have in place (or could quickly create) that provides value without taking much time (eg online resources, pre-recorded instruction videos, pre-made tools or calculates, document templates or “how tos” etc)
If you don’t have any existing resources yet, the next time you create something for a client that might be relevant for a different client, create it in a way that enables you to easily reuse it.
For example record video instructions or write a “how to” document that doesn’t refer specifically to any one client and can therefore be shared by all.
#5. REVIEW YOUR MONEY MINDSET
Money is a funny thing - some people love to have it, some people love to spend it, but most people have quite an awkward relationship with it.
That’s why it’s really important to explore the mindset you have around money. If you understand how you approach money, then you can create strategic ways to bring more of it into your business.
Again, this doesn’t always mean having to raise your prices.
You’ll have heard that positive energy generates more positivity. Something as simple as smiling at the people you pass on the street can create a chain reaction, generating positive energy in their day as well as yours.
Money mindset can be like a smile.
If you celebrate money and allow yourself to believe you deserve it, then you are more likely to create a chain reaction to attract it.
However, if you have negative perceptions of money, then these will be what play out in your business.
What you think and believe is what you will action.
TRUTHS YOU NEED TO BELIEVE:
Your Salary is NOT a Reward for doing a good job. It’s a fixed business cost you need to plan for. Because if you don’t PLAN to make your salary, you won’t.
Be mindful that your salary is likely to be your biggest business cost. So, you need to make sure it’s included in your pricing strategy or you’ll be missing the biggest chunk of revenue you need to pay yourself what you’re worth.
You don’t have to sacrifice your salary for the freedom and flexibility of doing what you love.
You deserve to be rewarded not just for the time, care and expertise you bring to the table, but also for what you enable your CLIENTS to achieve.
That has real value. And it doesn’t matter if you choose to deliver that value in your sweatpants, sitting in your lounge while your kids asleep! That’s irrelevant for the impact you have in your clients lives.
Your Salary is NOT the dregs of whatever is left over after you’ve paid all your bills.
As women, we’re often raised to think of ourselves last - serving others needs and wants before our own.
Giving ourselves the ‘burnt chop’ so that no-one else has to eat it. But this doesn’t work in business. Your family thrive when YOU’RE thriving. When you’re feeling valued and rewarded and capable. And that comes from being paid what you’re worth.
ACTIVITY:
Create a list of 3-5 money affirmations that resonate with you. Write them down every morning in a journal, or repeat them to yourself daily to build a positive relationship with your money.
ASK YOURSELF:
#1. What do you think you deserve to be paid?
#2. Can your business afford to pay you that yet when you take your other costs into account?
#3. Yes? Great start doing it! If not, follow the next steps below!
It’s A Confidence Thing
So there you have it, 5 helpful ways to earn more money in your business without having to raise your prices. These should help you to generate more profit from every job you do.
But, what if you do all these things and discover that you’re STILL not earning what you need to?
What if part of the solution is to actually raise your prices?
A lot of the clients I work with are reluctant to implement a price increase.
And if you’re anything like so many of the awesome business owners I work with, you are already under selling yourself!
I have discovered that increasing your prices is very much related to your confidence. Confidence in your value, your audience, your services and your ability to sell.
Building your confidence is a journey that can take time. It isn’t something that you can decide to do overnight. Yet, it is an important journey to start.
The fact of the matter is, people pay more for the things they value. They may not even see the value in your services if you are priced too low.
I can almost guarantee you your ideal clients are already paying MORE than the cost of your services for something else in their lives.
YOUR job isn’t to worry about what they can afford or not. YOUR job is to communicate the value of your services and why it IS worth investing in it.
So, if you are ready to start building your confidence and making more money in your business (without necessarily raising your prices just yet), then grab my free 5 Steps To Increase Your Salary resource to discover how much you are earning per hour and where you can make changes to increase your profitability.
Because YOU are worth it!
Grab instant access to the free resource here.
