HOW MUCH to charge and where to find your first client
Amazing formula ahead!
You decided to open your online business and your goal is to be rich one day!
You have something amazing in your hands right now that’s deciding how much to charge.
You decide!
You!
Feel the power in your hands right now! You are the owner of your future!
I will show you a method called 70-30 to take it for life.
It’s the best method out there to figure out how much do you need to live.
70% of your income represents the PRESENT and 30% is your FUTURE.
Don’t worry, there are examples.
Some links in this post are affiliate links, if you click and buy from it, I’ll get a small tip. No extra for you. They are marked with an asterisk (*)
| how much do you need to live |
First thing you need to figure out is how much do you need to survive.
Per month!
The fixed and variable expenses.
Mortgage or rent, electricity, internet, water, phone, transport, groceries, your kids education, eating out, things you can’t live without, a.k.a the essentials.
The sum of all these things is the bare minimum you need to make.
Let’s say you need $1500 to survive. This is your Safe Month!
🌶️I don’t want you to live paycheck to paycheck, so let’s spice this up!🌶️
Your Safe Month is 55% of your ideal income!
Be an entrepreneur is not easy, but that doesn’t mean you have to suffer each month.
You need to aim for the ideal income, what I call the Amazing Month!
As I said before, the Amazing Month follow a 70-30 ratio. This means, 70% represents the Present and 30% is for your future.
Here is what you need:
70% for the Present:
- 55% for essentials (your safe month)
- 5% for education (online courses, books)
- 10% for whatever you want!
30% for the Future:
- 20% for Goals
- 10% for your retirement
THE EXAMPLE!
It’s a simple Rule of Three:
If you need $1500 to survive, and $1500 is 55% of your total, your Amazing Month is $2727.27 (look at this number! LOL!)
70% Present:
$1500 for essencials
$272.70 for whatever you want!
$136.35 for education
30% Future
$545.40 for Goals
$272.70 for retirement
If you don’t have an RRSP or Investment account yet, do this today!(here are 2 free stocks to start *on WealthSimple!)
Your Dream Month can be any number! Go wild. My dream month is 10k. I am far away from it.
I created a Notion Template that automatically calculates this for you! Click here to get it!
| so what’s your offer? |
Now that you know how much money you need to make every month, you need to figure out your offer.
Do you want to work 40h per week? Is this your dream? 🤨🤨 Or have you become an entrepreneur because you wanted to spend more time with your kids? Or to have time to do whatever you want?🎉
What do you sell? Is it a program? A service? A package?
How do you work? Weekly meeting? Intensive days? Per hour?
If you are going to charge per hour, I am going to use the example of the 2727.27 month.
To get your bare minimum your hour must be: $8.63
To get your amazing month, your hour must be: $15.69
But then, you must work 40h per week to get this. You can play around with this Online Calculator.
However!
We don’t want to work 40h per week! You’re your own boss! You make your own rates, based on your experience and your own goals! Don’t be afraid to charge what you deserve.
Another situation, let’s say you are a Coach that have this 3-month program. And you are thinking on reach your Amazing Month every time!
Your Amazing Monthly Goal is $2,730 (I round up)
📅 Your 3-month program contains four 1-hour sessions per month, so twelve 1-hour sessions total.
💰 As you are just starting, you decided to charge $75 per session, $300 per month, $900 for the entire program.
💳 Your clients can pay $900 upfront or 3 times of $330(10% interest) or 2 times of $472(5% interest).
🧾But as you are a freelancer, remember to save 30% of this for taxes. So your 3-month program really pays $630 per client. $210 per month. (There are other fees here, like paypal, credit card, but to make things simple I won’t add it)
To reach your Amazing Monthly Goal you will need 13 clients per month. This means you will work 13 hours per week.
To reach your Safe Month, you will need 8 clients per month. This means you will work 8 hours per week.
[bctt tweet=”If you need to convince people in your life that you don’t need a job, show this to them! And then, ask them if they can help you find your first client.” username=”helloritaviana”]
How many clients do you need to reach your Safe Month? How many clients do you need to reach your Amazing Month?
As you are just starting, don’t charge too much. But make a promise to yourself right now: every X clients you get, you will raise your prices. Don’t be ashamed of this. You’re getting more experience as you go. You deserve to make money!
Also don’t charge too little. You are an amazing person who deserve to be paid! You are offering a service that only you can do. If you are going to charge $5 an hour, donate your time.
If people want to pay you $5/h they need to get their shit together before hiring someone. Not you! Know your value! Say “I am sorry, I can’t do pro bono right now”, and move on.
I will quote Kelsey Formost here:
Your prices are a filter for the types of clients you want to work with! When people are paying top of the market prices, they already trust your opinion and expertise.
If a potential customer tries to nickel and dime you, trying to get discounts for this or that, wanting a bunch of extras or insisting on a bunch of free introductory calls…IT’S NOT WORTH YOUR TIME.
Your rates are as much about respect as they are about money. Don’t forget that. Read her post about pricing here.
| where to find your first client |
If you are super new and feeling like a fraud, just know that this is normal and everybody feels this way.
If you are not sure your idea is a good idea, or if you are afraid your client won’t get the results you think they will, get beta clients.
The first one for free and the second one for a discount rate.
Who can be your beta client: friends, coworkers, family. Make sure those people are coachable, and they are willing to do the work, otherwise they will only get you late.
Don’t be afraid of dismiss them if they don’t do the work. Test for a week.
Another place is Facebook groups, just make a post saying you are looking for one beta client (free) and test your idea. Get those testimonials!
Check the full Instagram post of Post Ideas for Coaches here
| a plan |
After you tested your service, it’s time to find real clients to get the cash flowing.
✍️Make a list of everyone you know that might be in need of your services.
✅Do this every day, 1 hour per day to find clients.
✅Start your business Instagram account. Post about your offer there. Post your testimonials.
✅ Be present on Facebook Groups, genuinely help people there, offer your services. Don’t be afraid to sell, to hop on a call.
👋If you think you need a lot to start, I created a post to help you realize you don’t need that huge task list to start: check this post.
Hope this post helps you! This formula changed my life!
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