“The biggest mistake many businesses make is to believe that price alone drives sales.” — Elizabeth Wasserman, Inc.com.
I read Ms. Wasserman’s article titled “How to Price Your Products” this morning, and if you know anything about me by now, you know it inflamed my passions. She very accurately describes the processes required for pricing products accurately and consistently. I think we all know a lot of what she says to be true; however, in the sign industry, our products just don’t fit the cookie cutter model of pricing – which means every time we price a job, it’s a real challenge to pull all the variables together and get our prices out the door on time.
Why are you in business?
I mentioned a couple of months ago that I was involved in a discussion on an online forum where one of the posters essentially said that he felt he was ripping his customers off if he made a great profit on his work. This continues to mystify me because the whole reason we are in business is to make money. Sure, we love our work, the interactions with customers (well – most of ‘em 
), and the time we spend actually creating graphic arts for sale. At the end of the day, though, our whole reason for being in business is to take home a profit that allows us to save for retirement, put the kids through college, take vacations, and ultimately secure our lives. Otherwise we’re in business for all the wrong reasons. (more…)
