Pricing It Right: The How to Guide

If you’re here week after week, you’re already our favourite! We really hope that our efforts towards building a space for people like you and me is adding value to your freelancing journey. As you travel these rocky roads, we’re here with insights on the most important but usually misunderstood concept - Pricing!

Confused about how to price your initial projects and you’re feeling somewhat like this?

We got you. Keep reading! 

Imagine that you’ve landed a good client, a project you’d love to work on but now you don’t know how to go about your pricing structure or what to quote for the project.

Sucks, right?

Your rates serve as a gateway to the quality of your work and directly impact your profitability, sustainability, and the overall perception of your services.

Therefore, mastering the art of pricing is super essential. It's your opportunity to communicate the true value you bring to the table and confidently demand what you deserve.

But how do you know what you deserve? In a situation like this, oftentimes, the project or the client can cloud your practical brain and make you quote a price much lower than the work actually would require and you end up getting underpaid.

And next time, to compensate for your low pricing experience you will overprice and end up losing the project.

That’s why pricing has to be looked at as a dynamic concept and not a constant.

And just like anything else in life, there are first principles that can help us figure out a good pricing approach for our own service.

Let’s get into it!

Step 1: Evaluating the project scope and requirements

Do a deep dive into the project's scope and requirements to identify the specific tasks and deliverables involved.

Analyze the level of complexity, intricacies, and potential roadblocks that may arise during the project. 

This will give you a fair idea of the ‘number of hours’ that you would need to spend on the project.

Say you have a project to write 10 blogs for a website. Once you understand the scope, figure out how much time you would take for research, writing, and revisions for a single blog.

If It takes up to ~3-4 hours, then the total time for the project would be 10 blogs x3 hours or 30 hours.

Step 2: Assessing your expertise and experience (aka what do you bring to the table?)

Conduct an honest self-assessment of your skills, expertise, and unique strengths that make you stand out in the field.

Consider how your past experiences and successfully completed projects are related to the current one.

Include any specialised knowledge or certifications that position you as an expert in your niche.

This will give you an idea of what your ‘hourly rates’ should be.

Let’s say you come out with an hourly rate of Rs 1500/hour for yourself.

Step 3: Researching industry standards and market rates

Conduct research on the market to gain insights into the prevailing rates for similar projects and services: talk to your peers.

Identify the pricing trends within your specific industry and geographic region. Take note of any niche markets or emerging trends that might command higher rates due to increased demand or limited expertise.

This will help you align your hourly rates closer to industry standards.

Now you may figure 1000/hour is more closer to reality than your initial 1500/hour.

Step 4: Deciding the final quote

Align your pricing strategy [step 1 x step 2 x step 3] with your financial goals, ensuring that your rates cover expenses, generate profit, and always remember to quote a price with enough room for negotiation.

This helps you to quote something with a little premium and not just a mechanical hourly rate.

So, 30 hours x 1000 Rs/hour= Rs 30,000 for 10 blogs.

Add a buffer of ~25-30% for premium and negotiation which will then bring your price to around INR 40,000.

While being open to negotiation is important, it's equally vital to establish your value proposition clearly from the start.

Present your expertise [the portfolios we taught you how to make!], track record, and the tangible benefits clients will receive by working with you.

This positions you as a professional with a justified pricing structure and sets the stage for more productive negotiation conversations. 

Post negotiations, you may end up doing the project at say ~35k, which is a good price for your experience and the project scope.

Make sure to refine your pricing strategy over time, adapting to market trends, and seeking feedback from clients and peers [this is where your freelance frontier family comes in].

We hope this helps you with a direction on how to price your projects from here on. Until the next one from us, keep pricing it right!