Believe it or not, when I first started my Pilates business I was also looking at creating a clothing range. 
I set out to find someone who knew about these things and I was very fortunate to set up a meeting with Anne Walker (who runs a children’s dance clothing company in Newton Abbot and they provide clothing internationally – aka a very successful businesswoman!)
Anyway, we started talking about pricing the clothing and she told me a story about when she first started her business.
There was a period when the price of ballet shoes was dropping and dropping as all the stores were trying to undercut each other, but she kept her prices as they were and didn’t partake in this price war.
As a result, several of these businesses went out of business and today Anne’s company is one of the most successful businesses in her field worldwide!
I have always remembered her advice and to this day I do not look at anyone else’s prices and I price our services on the value and experience that we provide, which I am not ashamed to say is a premium rate because I know that we are good at what we do and our clients REALLY value us.
However, what I wanted to do is also add my few thoughts as to what I have learned over the past few years when it comes to pricing your services:
Some people will come to you because you are NOT the cheapest! There are people in the world that understand the value and are quite happy to pay premium prices IF the value matches the price!
When I was teaching in Plymouth there was a particular lady whose feathers I ruffled by starting classes there (HOW DARE I – that by the way comes from a scarcity mindset – something I teach my mentoring clients about)…. And she was charging £2.50 per class!
She was absolutely mortified that I was charging £7.25 per class and that was me charging on the low end!
Pricing your classes at £2.50 UNDERVALUES every other teacher out there and the service WE ALL provide!!!!
AND how on earth can you sustain a business charging £2.50 per person! (Needless to say she put her prices up after she saw mine – which is a positive move for everyone within the industry).
You have to take into consideration all the costs of your training, your equipment, your skills and what you offer and THAT IS WORTH MORE THAN £2.50!!
Those of you that have been through the course, might have heard me say that you should not be charging anything less than £7 (£6.50 as a push!) because I KNOW HOW WELL YOU HAVE BEEN TRAINED!!!
SO DON’T GET INTO A PRICE WAR WITH ANYONE – THERE ARE NO WINNERS. Yes, you will get clients that want the cheapest, but they will not stay with you when someone else comes along who is cheaper AND stick around when the going gets tough as there is no loyalty towards you – as they’re after the cheapest.
Respect your skill, your training, and the service you provide to others, and how much you can really help people, particularly NOW IN LOCKDOWN so don’t undervalue yourself! 
Lots of love!
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