How to Avoid Undercharging as a Wedding Pro: Tips for Pricing Your Services Fairly
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As a wedding business owner, providing excellent service to your clients is essential of course, but pricing your services fairly in return - can be a challenge! Unfortunately, many wedding pros end up undercharging for their work, which can lead to financial struggles and burnout. This happened to me far too many times at the beginning of my business!
In this blog post, I will share my tips to help you stop undercharging and get paid what you deserve!
At the end, I will share my top tip for when you are about to undercharge - it helped me every single time!
Charge for Your Time
One of the most significant mistakes we wedding pros make is underestimating how much time we'll spend on a project. It's crucial to take into account all the hours you'll spend working on the project. For example, a photographer may spend hours editing the photos after the wedding but forget to include that time in their pricing. To avoid this mistake, make sure you keep track of all the hours you work and factor them into your pricing.
Photo: Amina Filkins via Pexels
Consider the True Cost of Supplies
Don’t forget to include the cost of supplies or materials you will need to create your client projects or wedding days. To avoid this mistake, make a list of all the supplies you'll need and factor them into your pricing. Don't forget to include the cost of delivery, set-up, breakdown, samples, extras for ‘just in case’ etc.
Don’t Be Afraid to Charge What You Are Worth
It's not uncommon to feel uncomfortable asking for a fair price for your work, but it's essential to remember that clients will pay for quality work. Don't be afraid to charge what you're worth. It's better to have a few clients who value your work and pay a fair price than to work for pennies.
It’s always good to research your market and competitors and see what they are charging but - consider your own unique expertise and experience. Don’t simply charge what others are charging, you may be undervaluing yourself.
Photo: Teona Swift via Pexels
My Top Tip For When You Are ...
About to Undercharge!
In the past, I have struggled so much with not charging what I am worth and even simply charging what I need to to make a profit!
So, I learnt this little trick and it helped me to charge what I am worth when I started getting the urge to undercharge.
Try this:
Imagine that you are not sending the quote to who you are (wedding couple, client etc) but that you are sending it to a super well-known company - a big one. One that really wants to work with you.
Now, (and I am assuming you would not charge extortionate prices) I want you to craft your quote to this big company instead of who you are really quoting for. Keep in mind that you are sending this quote to a company that can easily afford what you are worth and what you genuinely need to be paid to run a successful business.
Does the quote look different to what you were going to charge your real client?
Compare the price you were going to charge to your real client to the quote you would send to the big (imaginary) company.
The quote you sent to the imaginary big company is what you deserve to be quoting to your real client.
Here is why:
If you tend to undercharge, that (in my opinion) means that you are a good person who would never want to rip people off.
The fee you quoted to the big company is probably higher than the fee you would charge a couple or client, isn't it? However, I doubt that it is overpriced. This is because you, as a genuine and trustworthy business person would never overcharge unnecessarily. This means that the quote is good to send.
I hope these tips work for you- they certainly helped me when I had a quoting wobble!
Let me know in the comments if this has helped or if you have any other tips to share!
