How many times have you seen this advice online?
“Raise your prices!”
“You’re undercharging!”
“Double your rates and work less!”
And then what happens? You read it, you feel guilty, and a little voice inside says: “But… that doesn’t feel right for me.”
Here’s the truth: sometimes that advice is spot on. Many business owners do need to raise their prices. But other times, the smarter move is actually to lower them.
Not because you’re worth less. But because your price isn’t doing the job you need it to do.
When “Raise Your Prices” Is Right
First, let’s give credit where it’s due. Raising your prices may be the right move when:
- You’re fully booked and overwhelmed.
- Clients consistently say “yes” without hesitation.
- Your prices no longer reflect the value you deliver.
If you check those boxes, a price increase is a way to align your business with reality.
When Lowering Your Prices Might be the Right Move
But here’s the nuance most advice leaves out: sometimes lowering your price is the right strategic choice.
Here are a few scenarios where that might be true:
- You’re testing a new offer.
A lower “beta” price can help you learn quickly without the pressure of perfection. - You’re in the wrong market segment.
If your target clients simply can’t afford your premium tier, a scaled-down, lower-priced version can open the door without diluting your main offer. - You need volume to learn.
At certain stages, experience and feedback are worth more than margin. Lower prices can help you build data, testimonials, and momentum. - You’re removing deliverables.
Lowering the price sometimes reflects a smaller, sharper offer, not a weaker one. - You want to bring in clients in order to get them to buy something bigger.
A well-designed entry offer creates momentum. It lets clients experience your value firsthand and makes the next “yes” an easy one.
How this can show up
One business owner I worked with had a three-tiered service model. The entry-level tier bundled together strategy and ongoing delivery for a monthly fee. But in practice, the “strategy” piece was a one-time activity. So it didn’t make sense as a recurring fee.
The fix? She stripped out strategy as a one-time engagement with a smaller, standalone price, and kept the ongoing services in the higher tiers.
By lowering the first tier, she actually made her overall pricing clearer, more logical, and easier for clients to say yes to.
Price Is a Tool, Not a Judgment
The most important shift? Stop treating pricing like a moral test you either pass or fail.
Pricing is a tool. Sometimes you raise it to signal value and protect your time. Sometimes you lower it to test, learn, or make your offers more aligned.
The question isn’t, “Am I charging too little or too much?” It’s, “Is my price doing the job I need it to do right now?”
So the next time you see another “raise your prices!” post and feel that tug of doubt, pause.
Maybe your intuition isn’t wrong.
Maybe it’s telling you that, for this stage, this offer, or this audience, you need to play a different game.
