1. I’m well aware of the costs of running and growing a business 

I’m gonna start with a bold statement right here: A lot of service-based businesses that charge prices that sound fair to the average person are just not sustainable. There can be thousands of ________ (coaches/nail techs/you-name-it) charging 60$/hour - that doesn’t make it any more sustainable. It just makes it common. 

No matter how lean you grow your business, it’s gonna cost money. And unless you always go for the cheapest option vs. the most efficient, costs can add up quickly. You invest into software to automate things or support you in delivering your work, certifications and continuing education to stay ahead of your time, a team to support you and you might invest into mentors or coaching for yourself to be supported on a mental and/or practical level as you grow your business.

Oh & did I mention taxes? And all sorts of other fees that arise with being an entrepreneur in most countries?

I remember when I started my business I had a pretty good understanding of the amount of costs that came with having your own business - and as I grew my business, I kept finding more and more fees I had no idea even existed.

Consequently, I quickly learned to make sure there’s always “extra money” in the business that doesn’t pay for my personal, or business bills. And THAT again, quickly made me realize that I needed to earn a lot more money than I initially thought to be able to take home the amount I wanted to take home as the CEO of the company, the one who carries all the responsibility.

Additionally to wanting to make a good income for myself, I learned that as an entrepreneur with a growing business, you become aware that you also feel a certain responsibility to continue to make money to be able to cover your bills (including those for real life humans who pay for their rent and food with the money you pay them).

That is why personally, I always want to stack up money that doesn’t get re-invested directly, or goes into my personal accounts. I always want to be able to hold my commitments - no matter how business is going, or how I’m personally feeling (and ps: I do not see it as my job to ensure that my clients can do the same, that's their job - I can help them get there, but it's their job to do so).

Everybody gets sick at times - and sometimes even bigger things can come our way - we don’t want to have to massively worry about money when we’re already not feeling good, do we?!

I don’t.

Consequently, some of the money that can seem like “overflow” is actually going into building reserves. 

Now, I don’t want to paint a false picture here, though cause this sounds very business-y: some of what I consider to be my “reserves” is parked in a Chanel handbag, Louis Vuitton bags and a sexy car. LOL - I’m still me and I like to trust my gut on things and handbags can actually be great investments (look it up if you don’t believe me).

I know at any point, if I desperately needed money, I could turn turn that Chanel bag into physical cash. 

So as a little tip from me to you: as always, you do not need to follow every Sally’s advice. Use your own mind & intuition. What matters the most, as always, is that you feel solid in what you do.

Personally, I feel good owning some really fun things that I can enjoy in the NOW while knowing I could easily turn them into cash if needed.

…just as a little lesson on the side. But yeah, all of these things are the reason I charge high-ticket prices. And I hope this point shows you clearly that charging high-ticket isn’t just about being able to splurge and book 5* hotels, but also about being an entrepreneur that thinks about their responsibilities and future.

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2. I don’t sell H&M handbags, I sell Chanel. 

I’ve always been fascinated by luxury brands, and I am obsessed with creating premium experiences… which cost more money than doing the bare minimum.

As much as many people say Chanel handbags are massively overpriced (at this point, I might even agree looking at recent price changes…), I think anyone who has touched a Chanel handbag can agree that they do not even compare to your average H&M bag.

Anyway, just like there’s H&Ms, there are Chanels - and as entrepreneurs we choose in which segment we want to position our brands in. And people choose where they wanna shop.

I chose the luxury segment because I want to be able to spoil my clients, create over-the-top experiences AND stay profitable…. and because I simply feel more excited about it to than making and selling H&M handbags 😅 I'm a Chanel kinda gal - and just like Chanel isn't for everyone, neither am I.

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3. I am making adjustments to my business that take everything to another level.

Related to creating mind-blowing experiences for my clients, I’ve been in a process of fine-tuning and refining my offers, my marketing, podcast, website and all sorts of things in my business over the last couple of months.

While I don’t think you need fancy branding, or anything, it is something I personally get turned on by. I’m a highly visual person and someone who appreciates next-level service and eye for detail - consequently, I want my own business to be just that - which in many ways increases the cost of running the business.

The visions I have for my life and business constantly challenge me to think and play bigger, so as much as I could “get away with” keeping things basic, it’s just not matching the visions I have - and it’s not what excites me.

Having said that, if I was starting my business from zero again, I still wouldn’t start off with that. I’d focus on learning how to sell and prioritize making products so good that the word basically spreads itself through happy customers.

To an extend, this is still where my focus is at now (while making small changes to how I create offers to make them even better), but I make more room to take my entire brand to the next level by putting resources into that. 

Keep in mind, though: This is not and should never become a matter of perfectionism and feeling like you have to rent an entire studio to record your online course, etc. 

My life has sustainably been altered in a positive way by the experience of buying an online course and being shocked about the low quality of video recordings I found in there.

At first, when I logged into the course I felt a strong “How dare she?” pulsing through my body, but as I watched the content that was wildly helpful, I was like “I kinda love the fact that she just doesn’t care about the video quality because the content is too good not to be published”. That serves as a huge permission slip for me to let go of perfectionism (mind you: I booked myself into a hotel for like 4 days to record my first online program LOL).

Anyhow, at this point, I do care to step up my visual game (while still throwing out some good ol’ selfies cause we like it easy) and to bring my wild visions to life that simply have a higher production cost than what I’m used to create.

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4. I have a nuanced perspective on accessibility.

Accessibility matters to me - which is why I pour tons of love and energy into my free content. There are around 60 free podcast episodes, an ever-growing content library on Instagram, and I’ve also started a blog and YouTube channel. 

(For a little reality check: writing this post has taken hours so far. From gathering my thoughts to sitting down to type it all out while wanting to cover everything properly… it’s taken a hot minute so far and I’m not even done - depending on your pricing this is paid or unpaid work time)

Plus, I offer products at all sorts of price points so everyone can make their choice shall they wish to work with me beyond the free content.

I believe accessibility is very nuanced, and as with everything, I don’t believe there is one right way cause let’s remember: something that might feel very accessible to one person, can feel fully inaccessible to someone else (plus, everyone's definition of *accessible* can be different, too).

Personally, I feel to make something accessible to *everyone*, we have to make it free and give phones, internet access, etc. to everyone. That is not a job I take on.

And as I’m very aware that love & light don’t pay for life at this point in time, I also don’t consider it to be smart to make my offers free.

I have, however, created new offers, and new versions of existing offers to be able to fully stand behind my high-ticket 1:1 prices.

An example of what I mean by that:

Many of the teachings, wisdom, coaching, etc. that used to be accessible only through my intimate, high-ticket 1:1 work, are now going into a variety of online programs so that you can get access to them for a much lower price (see my Rich & Relaxed membership - ONE year of daily support and weekly calls for only $88 per month).

This feels very aligned for me because it gives us more room in high-level 1:1 rooms to actually go deep and fully personal instead of me having to explain certain concepts AND, as I said, it makes said content more accessible for the wider mass who maybe can’t/think they can’t/don’t want to/don’t want to right now, etc. afford 1:1 work with me.

All of these adjustments and realizations really helped me to stand behind my high-ticket offers even when many people decided to lower their prices.

One last thing to mention here: My high-ticket 1:1 is not and was never intended to be for everyone. I typically work with female entrepreneurs who already run successful businesses or are growing them at massive speed, but crave more fun and spaciousness on that journey.

So if someone who’s maybe just starting their journey as an entrepreneur thinks my 1:1 prices are insane, I fully understand that. I would've felt the same when I started.

An entrepreneur who’s been at it for a while, or has grown at massive speed, looks at those numbers through an entirely different lens - and that’s the woman I’m speaking to.

Consequently, when you pick your prices - that’s something I would consider, too.

Many women set prices that are waaaay too high for the type of client they are speaking to in their messaging which causes them to struggle to sign high-ticket clients. If you want me to go deeper into that, let me know and I can send you a free podcast episode where I speak on this.

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5. I do not label prices as cheap or expensive. 

A price is just a price until we label it as high or low. Cheap or expensive. Fair or outrageous.

There will always be someone who finds a price „(too) expensive“. And I am choosing not to let someone’s perception of my prices be the reason I change them. 

If someone wants to hire a coach or mentor for e.g. 60$/hour, they can book them. I’m just not one of them & I own that I believe their experience with that will be very different from what it's like to work with me.

One perspective that has helped me to own my standing on this is to consider that some people that label and judge other peoples’ pricing have never grown a (sustainable/luxury segment) business. Consequently, they simply don’t know the cost of things. 

So no matter who labels which prices in whichever way - I stay neutral. A price is just a price. Target audiences are different. Personal preferences and “normals” are different. And so on. 

I no longer try to fit anyone’s image of what a good person is. Again, there is no such thing. There are just millions of individual definitions. I just need to match mine.

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6. My personal trainer needs to get paid.

Okay, this is a bit provocative, but hear me out. 

I (indirectly) let my clients pay for things such as my personal training and massages because they allow me to show up as the best version of myself & that increases the quality of my work. 

I believe there’s a huge difference between the work quality of a coach/service provider/etc. who’s struggling and one who’s taking great care of themselves & their energy. 

How do I know? Because I instantly notice I feel less sharp in times when I slack on my self-care a little bit. I think smaller when I feel smaller. I get the job done instead of excitedly pulling up my sleeves to support my clients when I don’t feel well taken care of. 

It makes all the difference.

Now, self-care activities don’t need to cost a fortune (watch this video for some of my favorite self-care activities) and real self-care goes way beyond massages and personal training - but those things are a part of it for me & those things cost money. Money that has to come from somewhere.

And I don’t want to get to philosophical here, but maybe most people would work a loot more efficient and joyful if their salaries allowed them to properly invest into self-care without sacrificing other things they work for?

Just a thought.

Since I am my own boss, I want to ensure I can give myself a salary which easily allows me to invest in self care so I can essentially reinvest my energy into my business and my clients. And I’m always working towards being able to offer the same to the humans that support me in my business. 

For me, this is about creating a domino effect in which we establish new standards in the work force. So for me it’s okay that this doesn’t make sense to everybody. It’s a new approach.

I do not think I have this all figured out, but I like the direction I am taking here. 

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7. Premium prices are of service to my clients

While yes, the money of a transaction eventually flows to me, I see pricing equally as a service to myself and my clients. 

In my opinion, clients invest in themselves by investing in my offers. Not into me. Because literally they don’t (think about investing in stocks: you don’t do it to make company X more money but because you believe buying stocks from them makes you more money - and that’s just a money example, but same applies for buying a lipstick).

Over the years, I’ve seen so much content around investing in yourself & in your business and I remember so well how I used to think “Nice try, Susan, but I know you just want me to buy YOUR product so YOU can have more money.”

…and while I’m not a huge fan of always flipping the coin, I can safely say: I thought this because it was my truth.

I could only interpret these posts like that because I thought it was smart to shift people’s perspective on investing… so they would buy my products (#owningit).

Today, I really focus on the value of my offer. I create products that bring my clients more than they paid for. Products that are an ever-growing investment - just like you ideally want to invest in the stock market.

And while this is, of course, not always the case, I can see that a higher investment, can have a higher return of investment. Again, imagine investing 100$ into the stock market with 5% yield return. Or getting 5% on 100.000$. Fully different outcome.

Of course, it’s not exactly the same, but there are similarities in my opinion.

And just like I wouldn’t recommend putting 100k into a stock that you’re not certain will ultimately make you make more money, I don’t recommend doing that with coaching/yourself or anything else (unless 100k is like play-money to you)

….which again leads us to the topic that might wrap up this (long-ass) blog post beautifully:

Nobody is forced to make any investments. 

…even if a ton of coaches out there may tell you “You have to invest X before you can charge X” - I’m just like “Nope, I don’t.”

And personally, I don’t think it’s fair or very responsible to blame anyone for their marketing skills being so great that you bought something you didn’t even want (or wouldn’t buy again looking back - big difference).

With that, I’m not saying that marketing can’t be manipulative, but I don’t ever want to take people’s power away by saying “They made you buy X”. No, you bought it - for whichever reasons.

And to me, that is not victim blaming - it is reminding people of their infinite power and that’s what I’m all about.

For some people it’s life-changing to commit to a high-ticket offer because suddenly they have to find the resources to stick to that commitment. That can be an insane power activation. AND it can add a ton of pressure - which is why everyone needs to get to know themselves so they can feel into whether making a big investment fuels them & causes them to show up like never before or if it drives them MAD.

I am always happy to help potential clients to figure this out and am very straightforward in saying “I don’t think this is for you right now” even if it could add a shiny pink Chanel handbag to my portfolio or pay for a year of personal training 😉

Now, before we get into a whole other topic now, let’s wrap it up.

I hope this blog post inspired you, opened your mind, made you see your truth, or simply stand more powerfully in it (no matter where you stand with charging high-ticket prices).

If it was supportive to you - please spread the word by sharing it with others who you think will benefit from it, too - and if you want to dive deeper with me, inquire about 1:1 or join my Rich & Relaxed membership for just $88/mo. to get daily feminine business support and weekly calls that help you build your business in a sustainable way.

Let's change the way women price so we can all enjoy the bliss of feeling rich & relaxed while doing work we truly love.