How Solos Scale #36 Is charging more actually better?
Mar 25, 2026
They debate whether higher fees always help and how price shifts client expectations. Short stories show when charging more increased workload and risked burnout. Conversations focus on matching price to the kind of engagement and the energy you want. Practical talk on experimenting with rates, audience fit, and finding the sweet spot between scope and scale.
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Price For Your Energy And Capacity
- Match price to the engagement model and your energy, not just what you can charge.
- Nick recommends lowering fees so deliverables shrink and you can manage more clients, e.g., shift from $20K to $16.5K to handle four clients.
Energy Determines Sustainable Pricing
- Your personal energy determines sustainable pricing decisions more than market logic.
- Erica says she needs enough pay and enjoyment to get out of bed, otherwise higher fees won't help if the work mismatches her energy.
Client Example Of Choosing Embedded Work
- Erica contrasts two clients: Shannon enjoys embedded, high-fee work and limits clients; another (Peter) dislikes embedding and prefers scalable deliverables.
- Shannon charges a lot and keeps client count low to match her energy and model.