Profitable Pricing: A Strategy Workshop for Service Businesses
Pricing is one of the most avoided conversations in small business. Many owners set prices based on what competitors charge or what feels comfortable to say out loud, rather than on what their services actually cost to deliver and what clients are genuinely willing to pay for good outcomes.
The pricing problems this workshop covers
Three pricing situations come up repeatedly in service businesses. First, rates that have not changed in 2 or 3 years despite rising costs. Second, packages that bundle too much together, making it hard for clients to see the value of individual components. Third, a fear of losing clients that stops owners from raising prices even when they know they should. The workshop addresses all three directly.
Format of the day
This is a single full-day workshop running from 9am to 5pm with breaks. Morning sessions are input-based: understanding cost structure, positioning, and how clients perceive price. Afternoon sessions are working sessions: you will recalculate your own service costs, draft revised pricing for at least 2 of your offerings, and write a short message you could send to existing clients to communicate a price change without losing the relationship.
What you bring on the day
Participants are asked to bring their current service list with prices, a rough sense of how long each service takes to deliver, and their approximate monthly overheads. You do not need to prepare anything formal — just have those numbers available.
Cormac Whelan, a freelance brand designer based in Limerick, attended a previous version of this workshop and said the cost calculation exercise showed him he had been undercharging by roughly a third on his most popular package.
What this program covers
Day Programme
- 9:00 – 10:30 — Cost and Margin Foundations: Understanding what your services actually cost to deliver, including time, tools, overhead allocation, and the cost of your own expertise.
- 10:45 – 12:15 — Positioning and Perceived Value: How clients decide whether a price feels reasonable. The role of how you describe your service in how much people are willing to pay for it.
- 13:15 – 14:45 — Recalculating Your Prices: Working session. Each participant recalculates costs and drafts revised pricing for 2 to 3 services using the workshop framework.
- 15:00 – 16:00 — Packaging and Presenting Prices: How to structure service packages so the value of each component is clear. How to present prices in proposals without apologising for them.
- 16:00 – 17:00 — Communicating Price Changes: Writing a message to existing clients about a rate increase. Group review and feedback on drafts.
Lunch and refreshments included. Maximum 14 participants to allow for individual attention during working sessions.
Seats are limited and fill up ahead of the start date. If this program fits where you are right now, getting in touch early makes sense.