Strategic Pricing: How to Sustain Your Business and Your Well-Being
In this episode, we reframe pricing—not as a number to match the market, but as a tool to fund the life you want.
I’m Deb, a Profit First Professional, and I’m here to show you why your pricing strategy must start with your lifestyle goals, not your competitors. Too many business owners undercharge, overdeliver, and burn out—because their pricing doesn’t reflect their financial reality or personal aspirations.
Together, we’ll walk through how to calculate your lifestyle number and reverse engineer your pricing so it covers your operational costs, tax, profit, and most importantly—your take-home pay. This episode is your invitation to value your worth, restructure your services, and create a business that sustains you, not drains you.
About the Podcast:
This episode of the Financially Healthy Business Podcast challenges the common habit of pricing based on what others charge or what you think people will pay.
Instead, I guide you through a strategic approach that helps you align your income with your personal and business goals—so you can serve the right clients, work the hours you choose, and actually keep more of what you earn.
We explore the dangers of underpricing, and how getting clear on your true financial needs is the key to long-term sustainability and satisfaction.
Each 15–20 minute episode offers practical insights to help you run a business that works for you—not the other way around.
Price with intention. Lead with clarity. Build a business that fits your life.Takeaways:
- In our discussion, we emphasize the necessity of pricing for lifestyle rather than merely for sales.
- It is essential to ensure that your pricing model accounts for all business expenses and personal income needs.
- Copying competitors' pricing strategies can lead to detrimental financial consequences for your business.
- We advocate for a bottom-up pricing approach that begins with understanding your financial requirements.
- Establishing a sustainable business model requires careful consideration of profit margins and operational costs.
- The goal of your business should be to support your desired lifestyle, rather than to merely survive.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Accounts Ladies
- Accounts Office Academy
- financiallyhealthybusiness.co.uk
Transcript
Foreign Healthy Business Podcast for business owners who want the confidence on cash flow that supports the life they actually want to live.
Speaker A:I'm Deb Halliday, Profit first professional founder of award winning accountancy practice the Accounts Ladies and the Accounts Office Academy and author of how to Build a Financially Healthy Business.
Speaker A:Learn how to take control of your finances, reduce stress and grow sustainably.
Speaker A:Because your business should support your life, not consume it.
Speaker A:Let's get started.
Speaker A:Hello again and welcome back to the Financially Healthy Business Podcast.
Speaker A:I'm Deb Halliday and today we're shaking things up with a fresh take on pricing.
Speaker A:Forget what you've heard about matching the competition or guessing what people will pay.
Speaker A:We're going to price for lifestyle, not just sales.
Speaker A:This is about building a business that sustains you financially, emotionally and personally.
Speaker A:So let's dive in.
Speaker A:Most of us start pricing our services by looking at what others charge, or worse, by picking a number we think clients will accept.
Speaker A:And while that might get you sales, it often leaves you exhausted, underpaid, and wondering why you started this business in the first place.
Speaker A:I see it all the time.
Speaker A:Businesses that sell but don't sustain.
Speaker A:So let's reframe this price for lifestyle, not just sales.
Speaker A:You didn't start your business to be the cheapest option on the block.
Speaker A:You started it for freedom, for a steady income, and for the ability to choose your own path.
Speaker A:That means your pricing has to reflect more than just covering costs.
Speaker A:It needs to account for your owner's pay what you take home to live on your profit margin.
Speaker A:Because profit is what pays you.
Speaker A:Not just sales, your taxes, those sneaky bills that creep up, and all your operating expenses.
Speaker A:Everything from software to team costs.
Speaker A:Let's put some numbers to this.
Speaker A:I'm going to use small numbers here so you can easily follow along.
Speaker A:Imagine you want to take home a minimum of 2,500 pounds a month.
Speaker A:That's your minimum domestic bill goal.
Speaker A:Now add tax.
Speaker A:Let's say 500 pounds.
Speaker A:A 10% profit margin.
Speaker A:250 pounds.
Speaker A:And your business expenses 1,750 pounds.
Speaker A:Suddenly your business needs to bring in 4,000 to 5,000 pounds a month just to make that happen.
Speaker A:That's the reality of pricing from the bottom up.
Speaker A:So how do you get there?
Speaker A:Reverse engineer it.
Speaker A:Ask yourself, how many clients do I want to serve?
Speaker A:Maybe five a month.
Speaker A:How many hours do I want to work?
Speaker A:Let's say 20 hours per client.
Speaker A:What does each package need to be priced at to support that?
Speaker A:Divide £5,000 by five clients.
Speaker A:That's £1,000 per client.
Speaker A:That's only £50 per hour if you're working 20 hours per client.
Speaker A:The math doesn't work as you have to pay yourself, pay tax, pay national insurance, operating expenses or team members.
Speaker A:You will burn out if you're not charging enough as you'll constantly be chasing that sale.
Speaker A:It's time to adjust as chasing the sale doesn't fix the problem.
Speaker A:You need to price correctly with all these factors included including profit and contingency.
Speaker A:Copying your competitors pricing is a recipe for disaster as you don't know if they have priced correctly, have paid their tax, are taking any owner's pay, they may go bust tomorrow.
Speaker A:Your task today is to price from the bottom up.
Speaker A:Start with what you need, your lifestyle number, then build your packages around that.
Speaker A:Don't let the market dictate your worth.
Speaker A:You set the value.
Speaker A:If you want to dive deeper, sign up for our Financially Healthy Business program where we walk you through the calculations and give you confidence.
Speaker A:Visit financiallyhealthybusiness.co.uk.
Speaker A:you deserve to be paid fairly for the value you bring.
Speaker A:Let's stop leaving that to chance and start building a business that works for you.
Speaker A:Join me next time as we tackle cash flow forecasting without the overwhelm.
Speaker A:See you then.
Speaker A:Thanks for tuning in to the Financially Healthy Business Podcast.
Speaker A:Today's episode helped you take a step closer to building a business that supports your life.
Speaker A:Share it with a fellow business owner, follow the show or leave a review.
Speaker A:It all helps to get the message to the people that need it.
Speaker A:For further Support, head to ww.financiallyhealthybusiness.co.uk to find out more information on my online coaching program.
Speaker A:You didn't start your business just to survive.
Speaker A:You started it to thrive.
Speaker A:Till the next time.
