Designers: What Kind of Prices Are Ya'll Chargin These Days???

[redemption]

I've been running my design business for a few years now and it's been a lucrative side hustle, but I'm getting to the point now where I dont want this as a side hustle anymore. I want to go all in, and not have to juggle my business and a job.

I've been successful so far by grossly undercutting larger studios, but that in itself wont be enough to keep my business afloat while sustaining me financially (unless I take on an insane workload and work myself to death).

So here's my dilemma. I need to raise my rates, point blank. I can still undercut larger studios, but it seems when my clients start hearing $5k+ rates, they get hesitant.

Now keep in mind, I'm based in Southern California, and I deal with a lot of entities in the entertainment business. Recently I've been getting a lot of request for community driven websites, with some unreasonable timeframe for completion. So I honestly believe I'm not overcharging in the slightest here. But I'm kinda at a loss as to what is that right price to charge. Any ideas here on rates I should consider???

 

[gcat10]

I was in the exact position you were in now few years back. There is nothing wrong with your pricing structure, what’s wrong is your choice of clients. Because it was your side job, you probably are dealing with what I call "nickel and dime" clients. Mom and pop stores/businesses. What you need are SMB who will not balk at $10+ fees.

So my advice? If you are going in, go ALL IN! Get reputable and trustworthy partner(s). Like a biz dev person, who will manage the business side of your consultancy. Chasing leads, billing, talking with clients takes time. Or a programmer, who will take care of the backend for you or cut up your PSD into XHTML/CSS.

That’s what I fail to do. I tried to do everything by myself. Not only I was working 24/7, I was doing things outside of my expertise. So not only did I do some subpar work, I was burnt out in less than two years. It’s very hard to meet deadlines when you have to answer emails, squash bugs from previous jobs and meet with prospective clients. Something will have to postponed or delayed. That’s usually meeting with future clients. That was my mistake, because if you don’t have future jobs in the pipeline, you will have week(s) where you don’t have money coming in. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that’s how you go out of business.

 

[redemption]

I was in the exact position you were in now few years back. There is nothing wrong with your pricing structure, what’s wrong is your choice of clients. Because it was your side job, you probably are dealing with what I call "nickel and dime" clients. Mom and pop stores/businesses. What you need are SMB who will not balk at $10+ fees.

So my advice? If you are going in, go ALL IN! Get reputable and trustworthy partner(s). Like a biz dev person, who will manage the business side of your consultancy. Chasing leads, billing, talking with clients takes time. Or a programmer, who will take care of the backend for you or cut up your PSD into XHTML/CSS.

That’s what I fail to do. I tried to do everything by myself. Not only I was working 24/7, I was doing things outside of my expertise. So not only did I do some subpar work, I was burnt out in less than two years. It’s very hard to meet deadlines when you have to answer emails, squash bugs from previous jobs and meet with prospective clients. Something will have to postponed or delayed. That’s usually meeting with future clients. That was my mistake, because if you don’t have future jobs in the pipeline, you will have week(s) where you don’t have money coming in. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that’s how you go out of business.

It's nice to hear someone else out there who knows what I'm going through and I'll definitely take your advice. I agree with you assumption that its my cleint base thats the problem (they've all been obtained through referrals and word of mouth). It seems all my cheap ass clients, have cheap ass friends lol. I think my next step is to take a moment give my company a facelift and then recruit someone to assist in the business and sales aspects of my company.

I appreciate your response, and if anyone else out there would like to weigh in, I'm all ears.