Momentum Monday: YOU Are Worth It – How to Overcome the Fear of Charging What You Are Worth

“Oh it’s nothing.” That’s what we often say about our own skill set, the one that comes so easily to us it just seems obvious and commonsensical. That mindset is at the root of why we constantly undervalue our true worth.

We forget that what is easy for us is extraordinarily difficult for others. We discount the ability to turn on the creativity and come up with an answer or navigate the maze of choices to find the shortest path to success. Our brains just work that way.

It’s what makes charging what you are worth is so difficult for many entrepreneurs. How do you put a price tag on creativity? How do you sum up years of experience in a line item on an invoice? How do you justify charging for an idea that took you 2 seconds to come up with (in the shower)?

How to Overcome the Fear of Charging What You are Worth

The fear of charging what you are worth, or what you perceive as ‘overcharging’, is that people will say, “NO!” and refuse to work with you. It’s easier to undercharge and be so overwhelmed with customers that you can barely keep up than it is to inch that price up even a bit.

The funny thing about the fear charging more is that without a doubt, some will refuse that price. The reasons will range from they don’t see the value in what you offer to they simply can’t afford it. That’s okay because if you do the math, you need a lot fewer “Yes’s” to make the same amount when you charge more.

With that now smaller and more exclusive base of customers, you get to focus on delivering even more value. Before that kind of extraordinary service was out of the question because you were barely keeping up. Now you can lavish attention on your higher paying customers further justifying your lofty price tag.

How to Shift Your Thinking about Your True Value

The key to getting over the fear of charging what you are worth is to shift your thinking about your value. Even if you bill your time on an hourly basis, you are selling value, not time.

Speed and Efficiency – The trouble with the hourly trap is it doesn’t account for the benefit of getting it done quickly and efficiently, and instead it rewards slowness. If you are able to deliver speed, consider charging for end results, not the time it takes you to get there.

Sum of your Experience – Your value is not just the time you put in on a project; it’s the subtle understanding of your industry, all the little tricks that help your customers shortcut key steps.

Avoiding Mistakes – What would a mistake cost your customers? Money? Time? Reputation? Don’t forget they are benefiting from your knowledge of what not to do as much as they are benefiting from your direction on what to do.

Get Immediate Results – What would you pay to skip ahead in the game and shortcut all your early learning by trial and error? Remember, your customers are getting immediate results because of your knowledge!

The Bottom Line Impact – Remember that 2-second idea? What if that little gem made your customer an extra million dollars? Feel better about charging serious money for that idea even though it only took you 2 seconds? You should.