Guide to What to Charge for Your Services

When starting a business, one of the most important things to decide is how much you're going to charge for your services.  There are several factors you'll want to take into consideration, such as how much your competitors are charging for the same service, whether or not there are any pricing guidelines for your industry, and how much you would have to charge to break even.

Find out what your competitors are charging -   This will give you an idea of how much people in your area are paying for the service you want to offer.  You then can set your prices to be competitive with them while still making a profit or at the very least, breaking even. 

Take a look at your business plan -  Figure out how much you would have to charge to break even.  Then figure out how much you would have to charge if you wanted to make a profit, and use those numbers as a starting point to figure out how much to charge. 

Find out if there are any pricing guidelines for your industry - Contact a trade association, or ask someone who has been working in the industry for several years.  Then use those guidelines when figuring out how much to charge. 

Ask the customer what kind of price he has in mind - Once you find this out, take it into consideration when deciding how much to charge.

Don't give the customer a quote right away - Take some time to evaluate the project so you can figure out how much work will be involved.  Then formulate your quote based on the work involved, the going-rate for the services, and the input the customer gave you on what they're willing to pay. 

Offer a range of different prices for the customer to choose from - If your customer is asking you to do a number of different things, such as type up a document and print out a document, offer him a few different prices based on different options.