GracefulCart~Server for GracefulHosting Services

A few months ago marked the 1 year anniversary of GracefulHosting. It came as a huge surprise to me; seems like just yesterday when I had my first client. Over the past months I have learned a LOT. I have learned that customer service will make or break your business, a business can be lots of fun but takes lots of dedication, and pricing is key!

In this postI will discuss the pricing aspect of business. Not only is this post to assist people in running their own business, it will stand to explain why I have recently increased my web hosting prices.

Personally, I have grown up and ran my business with the principle that the better the price, the more customers you’ll have. While that may be absolutely true, it can quite often be a poor way to run your business. “Why?” you ask? Think of it this way. Why are you in business? For fun? Of Course! For independence? Absolutely! However, ultimately you are in business to make a profit. If you make YYYY product for 9.99 with a profit margin of $3.00 and sell 30 units of YYYY product you will have made $90 profit minus the amount of time it took to make, package, and ship 30 units. However, if you make the exact same product and sell it for 14.99 but only sell 15 units (because your price is higher) you’ll make $120 minus the time it took to make, package, and ship 15 units. Which sounds better to you? Of course, the higher price but fewer units! You make more money and spend less time preparing product.

Often people stray away from raising their prices. However, if  you offer a quality product that you stand behind 100% your customers won’t mind a price increase.

With this concept in mind, I have recently increase the prices of my services. While this price increase will only apply to new clients, I feel it will make a huge difference in the way my business operates. A higher profit margin means eventually I will be able to hire more staff. More profit means I can also afford to spend more on promotion and development. On top of these two points, a higher price will make people rethink a purchase of this type. My old prices were, well, laughable. People passed me by because my prices were too low. Now I feel my business will stand as a more serious contender amongst web hosts in my niche.

Please let me know what you think about this change. It is truly something I have battled over for months.

Regards,
Adam Grace