Hi friends!
Today I wanted to discuss a more serious topic. Awkward, maybe. But this is business after all, so it needs to be dealt with. This post feels like preaching to the choir, because honestly it’s something I’ve struggled with the ENTIRE time I’ve had a business.
Painting furniture started for me as a hobby. Something “adult” to do while my kids took naps. A reason to get out of the house from time to time. I figured, if I made money at it, that’s great. Friends, family, even customers were saying I didn’t charge enough.
So I slowly began increasing my prices, and learning to value my time and talent a more than I had reflecting in the price tag. So here’s what I’ve learned in the process:
6 Problems with Under-Valuing Your Work & Your Product
1. The way you value yourself (or your product) is how your customer will too.
If you go to K-Mart to buy furniture, you are expecting K-Mart quality furniture. You probably didn’t spend much for it and you aren’t really expecting much from it. Quality is not the reason you bought it there, it was probably out of convenience or a short term need. So, if you price yourself like K-Mart, people are expecting there not to be much quality. Selling primarily online, customers can’t touch, feel, smell a piece of furniture, so if the price is too low they are thinking something is wrong in the construction, quality or finish of the piece. You don’t want to be known as the K-Mart of furniture (nothing against K-Mart), you want to be known for your quality, creativity, and beauty in your pieces.
2. You are not your customer.
This has been eye opening to me. I am cheap. I like deals, I like coupons, I like free stuff, I also like to DIY and have the confidence I can get it done. I assumed most people who liked painted furniture, looked for the same prices, just like me. I would finish a piece and in determining the price, I would always thing, “that’s nice, but I would never spend that much on a piece”. With that mindset, my prices were devaluing my work. I’d think “well, if I wouldn’t spend that much, neither would they”. WRONG. Most people don’t want to do it themselves, they want a look, a style, a piece of art, and they are willing to pay for it.
3. It will limit your growth long-term.
If you are initially underpricing your work and business picks up, word can get out that you are the place to shop. However, it gets harder and harder to keep up at your prices. But you don’t want to raise them and scare people off, you just don’t have the time to do more (there are only so many hours in the day). Instead, it’s better to begin raising your prices as business increases. As revenue increases, you can invest in your business in other ways – investing in other projects, teammates, and long term business purchases.
4. It’s harmful for your entire industry.
If everyone who refinished furniture would increase their prices $50 per piece, that would be great right, $50 extra for everyone! Shopping Goodwill and slapping a coat of paint on furniture got so popular so quickly, people were selling pieces on Craigslist for next to nothing. You come along with a real business, doing real wood work, and it puts you at a disadvantage because people aren’t expecting to pay a higher price. Driving prices down is harmful not only to you, but everyone in your industry. It created falsely low expectations of the customers. There has been a real push for proper pricing lately, and it’s been an overall positive trend.
5. You will not take yourself seriously (neither will anyone else).
If you start to put in real work and start growing your business when everyone else thought you were just tinkering in the basement with your hobby, you won’t be taken very seriously. Building and growing a business takes time. There is no such thing as overnight success. You need to value the time and effort it takes to build, run and grow a business by appropriately charging for the work you create. When you are priced well, you will feel good about the work you are doing, you won’t resent taking on that picky client because you’ll be well paid for all the extra effort. Start acting like a business owner, and it will show.
6. If people are looking for a cheap deal, they aren’t willing to pay for extras.
When I first listed pieces online and tried to sell them very reasonably, the shipping quotes I got back were as high as the piece itself. If someone came to be because I had a dresser listed at $150, they weren’t usually willing to pay equal cost or more for shipping. The expectation was they wanted a steal, not to double the price with shipping cost. However, when my prices were at the proper rate, and someone wanted a shipping quote, it was expected {pay more for a quality service, and be willing to pay the shipping expense}. You want to attract the proper clientele (again back to #2 – you are NOT your customer) so they are willing to pay a fair price on the product and shipping cost.
So where do you stand with all this? Do you properly value your time and talent??
Have you been afraid to take your little business online because you just weren’t sure how to make it grow? How to take the next step? I was propelled forward unintentionally at the time by having to quickly learn to ship furniture all over the country. I had no idea what I was doing when I started, but trial by fire forced me quickly learn. If you have really been wanting to list your pieces online, but have been scared off by the aspect of shipping, let me help you!
I wrote an eBook, The Complete Guide to Shipping Furniture. I’ve taken all that I’ve learned in the past 4 years and turned it into valuable insight for you. You can maybe implement these strategies much earlier than I did. In the book I shared a little about this very topic, pricing and valuing your talent. It’s an important aspect to furthering your business, but it is a little more complicated than [cost of materials + time = price] right? Below I’m sharing with you my price list as of the date this is posted.
Use this as a guide post. This is for basic finishes. If you have a 15 step process that is your signature look, well your price needs to reflect that work. Start here and adjust to your own work. I just hope it’s a good place for you to start.
Ready to take your business more seriously, and take it to the next level? Start here! Adjust your prices, get ready to ship – and watch it grow!
And for those of you who are ready to start taking custom orders, check out this article all about custom work here!
Blessings,
Jenni
