Why You Should Never Slash Your Prices In A Recession

| February 16, 2009

In a recession, you need to make smart money decisions.

Dropping prices is one of the worst choices you can make.

It’s so, so tempting in this economy to price low in order to get what little work is going around.  It’s also the fast track to bankruptcy.

First of all, let me say that I remain convinced that this economy will rebound quickly as soon as we all get over the shock of how fast it imploded.  I predict that even if we are not back to the levels we were a year and a half ago, by summer this year we should be back to a place where credit is freed up and money is moving through the economy again.  Until then, what do we do?

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Stop Shooting Yourself In The Foot With Your Hourly Rate

| February 14, 2009

Note: This article is written from the sign shop perspective, but is applicably to any small business where time and materials are the bottom line.

The wrong hourly rate (or “shop rate”) can be like a hidden cancer for your business.

How do I know?  Because I almost killed my sign business this way in 1995. Obviously, now that EstiMate Software is my gig, I’m not making signs anymore.  I grew up in the business, though, and ran my own shop for 8 years — so I know a thing or two about how to keep it going and what matters.

One thing I know for sure is that the wrong shop rate can kill your business.  Especially in times like these. The very worst thing you can do is work for cheap.

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