Undercharging Is a Dysfunctional Game You Don't Want to Play

Look deeper into your rates

Photo by Shane Rounce on Unsplash

Undercharging tells prospective clients you can't take care of them. They sense the wobble here.

Let’s talk about what this looks like and what to do about it especially if you have engagement but no buyers.

If you can't meet your financial needs, you'll look to your clients to meet them. You won't even realize you’re placing expectations on your people that aren’t workable.

You'll get resentful when they don't pay, forget to tip, or haggle for more and more discounts or services.

You'll repel people who have enough self-respect to avoid entering relationships with an uneven power dynamic.

You'll attract tire kickers, freebie collectors, and those willing to drain you dry and push right through your spongy boundaries.

You'll attract people who shirk personal responsibility, project their shit on you, and take advantage of your time.

If you're not taking care of your finances, clients will intuitively sense they aren't getting you at your best.

They'll sense the exhaustion, worry, and grasping hiding under a veneer of spirituality, service, and world-saving.

They'll feel you’re looking at them as a transaction or someone who needs rescuing, not as a human who needs assistance (not enabling) to achieve their full potential.

Here’s an example:

Once, I applied to be in a very high-ticket group. I met with the coach, loved the concept, and the opportunity.

I felt sure I could swing the amount, but I didn't have it at that moment.

I sent an email that I wasn't able to say yes today, but I was working on it, and to let me know the last day of enrollment.

A few hours later, even though I'd had no reply, I felt like ice water had been thrown at me, and energetically, the door slammed shut.

Two days later, I had the money, but the energy and lack of response had already told me everything I needed to know. My email was responded to as an afterthought 30 days later.

Make your finances a priority, even if you feel conflicted about money and are avoiding looking at your numbers like the plague.

Don’t insist your clients go through the discomfort of change if you aren’t also willing to face your money demons.

When you set a date with your finances and do youwatch your business evolve right in front of your eyes.

Watch people fall away, and others come closer.

Elevate yourself and let life mirror your value back to you in so many interesting ways.

People start offering more money than you asked for, respecting your time, and honoring boundaries.

Don't beat yourself up over any of these; running a business is a strange but powerful path toward enlightenment.

The stones in the road teach you more than any book or coach out there ever could.

XO,

LMW