Is It Time to Raise Your Prices? A Financial Perspective for Service Businesses

“Should I raise my prices?”

It’s one of the most common questions we hear from service-based founders. But too often, pricing advice is fluffy or emotional. You don’t need hype—you need clarity.

Here’s how to know, from a financial perspective, whether it’s time to raise your rates—and how to do it well.

First: Is your pricing aligned with your delivery model?

We often see businesses undercharging for:

• High-touch, complex services

• Customised solutions

• Senior team involvement

Your pricing should reflect:

• The time and expertise required

• The results you deliver

• The true cost of delivering (not just hourly wages)

✅ Use your P&L to calculate your gross profit margins by service or client type. That’s where the truth lives.

Signs it’s time to raise prices:

• You're fully booked but not hitting your profit goals

• Your costs (team, software, overheads) have increased

• You're working with clients who expect gold for silver pricing

• You’re the most affordable option in your market—and you shouldn’t be

How to raise prices without losing your best clients:

1. Communicate clearly and confidently
   Explain the change, reinforce the value, and give notice.

2. Add value—not just cost
   Refine your offering or improve client experience alongside the price change.

3. Test before you roll out
   Try new pricing with new clients before applying it to existing ones.

✅ Pro tip: We often build pricing models with clients to simulate different rates, packages, and capacity levels so they can raise prices strategically, not emotionally.

Raising your prices isn’t greedy. It’s necessary. It’s part of scaling sustainably.

📌 You don’t need to apologise for wanting to be profitable. You need the numbers—and the confidence—to back it up.