If you work as an independent professional, or that you are employed - but if you are for this site, I hope this would help you;) - so your income depends heavily on your hourly rate. So obviously, if you can increase your hourly rate, you can earn more without working longer.
But when is it supposed to increase your hourly rate? How to tell if you are asking a fair price for the service you provide?
When not increase your hourly rate
If you will increase your hourly rate, there should be solid business reasons to do so. In the absence of these reasons, it makes no sense to increase your rates.
Because you feel it is not a solid business reason.
Just like the desire to earn more money. This is a beautiful intention, but that's not a reason to ask your customers more for the same service.
When to increase your hourly rate
Here are some cases in which increase your rate may be a wise choice:
But when is it supposed to increase your hourly rate? How to tell if you are asking a fair price for the service you provide?
When not increase your hourly rate
If you will increase your hourly rate, there should be solid business reasons to do so. In the absence of these reasons, it makes no sense to increase your rates.
Because you feel it is not a solid business reason.
Just like the desire to earn more money. This is a beautiful intention, but that's not a reason to ask your customers more for the same service.
When to increase your hourly rate
Here are some cases in which increase your rate may be a wise choice:
1. You have improved your service and / or skills. If you are able to give more value to your customers in less time, so raise your rates to reflect this increase in quality and efficiency is reasonable.
2. The supply curve and the demand for your services has changed. If you miss opportunities, become too busy or have to refuse customers because the demand for your services are beyond what you can offer, then it makes sense to raise your prices to bring supply and demand a better balance .
3. You want to work less. If you want to reduce the number of hours that you work with your customers, you can increase your rates to reflect the greater scarcity of your offer.
4. You are a testing out higher prices. Testing a higher price is a perfectly valid business reason. However, before testing higher prices, plan a backup plan in case the new prices encounter too much resistance.
5. You want to reposition yourself. Positioning or branding are also valid business reasons to raise your prices. However, you've got to have the skills and experience necessary to ensure your new positioning. If you want to be a well-paid consultant, make sure you can consistently deliver high quality results. Otherwise if you ask for premium price for ranges below average services, you are primarily trying to rip people off.
These are some of the most common occupational reasons to increase your prices, but there are others, most of them being related to a particular area.
2. The supply curve and the demand for your services has changed. If you miss opportunities, become too busy or have to refuse customers because the demand for your services are beyond what you can offer, then it makes sense to raise your prices to bring supply and demand a better balance .
3. You want to work less. If you want to reduce the number of hours that you work with your customers, you can increase your rates to reflect the greater scarcity of your offer.
4. You are a testing out higher prices. Testing a higher price is a perfectly valid business reason. However, before testing higher prices, plan a backup plan in case the new prices encounter too much resistance.
5. You want to reposition yourself. Positioning or branding are also valid business reasons to raise your prices. However, you've got to have the skills and experience necessary to ensure your new positioning. If you want to be a well-paid consultant, make sure you can consistently deliver high quality results. Otherwise if you ask for premium price for ranges below average services, you are primarily trying to rip people off.
These are some of the most common occupational reasons to increase your prices, but there are others, most of them being related to a particular area.