I Suddenly Understand Why Solopreneurs Charge So Much

All I had to do was become one to figure it out.

Whoever said necessity was the mother of invention certainly wasn’t lying.

All it takes is being unemployed for 8 months in a relentlessly bleak job market to figure out how quickly you need to create a better path for yourself.

Sometimes the universe offers to create the path for you. Just pay attention to what people are asking for and you too could find yourself charging rates you never dreamed would feel legit.

This was the case with my accidental little business that so far seems poised to flourish.

As a writer of multiple Substack publications, naturally I am very active and present on the platform. As a result, I began receiving occasional requests for help from other writers.

One writer in particular messaged me asking if I would do certain tasks for her and she would pay me XX/hour for my work. Her hourly offer seemed really high but who was I to turn her down? I was unemployed.

She offered, I accepted, and a brand new business idea was born, billing what I felt were exorbitant rates. I chose to adopt the mentality that if she was willing to pay it, then others surely would be.

I put the theory to the test by throwing together a simple business website and posting my rates and services for the world to see.

And guess what?

I’ve been operating for a few months now and not a single person has pushed back by questioning my rates. They just pay it because that’s what I’m asking for.

The only breaks I give are to a couple of clients who retain me for ongoing monthly work. The rest are typically one-offs at regular hourly billing.

My rates no longer FEEL too high.

It didn’t take long to realize that what I charge is more than fair considering how much I’m not charging my clients for.

Go ahead and ring the bell if you’re a solo business operator and this sounds familiar 🔔🔔

Emails

Wads and wads of emails back and forth to whittle down what each client really wants. The thing is, many of them aren’t Substack-savvy, so they have no idea what they want until I whittle it down for them.

Makes sense…they wouldn’t be hiring me if they knew how to do it themselves.

Ghosts

Not many but enough ghosts to matter. These are the ones who fill out my online inquiry form, send it in, I look over it and then get back to them. And that’s where it ends. Not a ton of time wasted but it’s still non-billable time.

Slow responders

These are the most painful ones because nobody can move forward in a standoff. Most often this has to do with time zones. I live and work in Canada and serve clients who might be in Australia or Paris.

Most email communication occurs while the other one is sleeping and there’s nothing we can do about it.

Pay ’n’ Run

These ones are strange. I’ve got a few “buy it now” services where they click, pay, and then we work out the details later. Some people pay, we exchange one email and then I don’t hear from them again….for several days.

It’s weird because they’ve already paid so I can’t file away their correspondence. They have to stay open-ended and I have to stay vigilant with my inbox, just in case.

Tools to operate

I have web hosting, an accounting system, time keeping system, and a project management system. Not all of them cost money each month but all of them take time to onboard and operate with each new client. Again…non-billable time.

The whole point of being in business

For me it started out as necessity. I couldn’t find a job so I created one. But now, as a business owner charging premium rates, the goal is to NOT work eight hours a day.

I can live very comfortably billing out six hours a day if and when I build up to that point. I want to maintain the ability to take two-hour lunch breaks to walk the dog in fresh air.

I have quickly learned that solopreneurs almost HAVE TO bill premium rates to achieve balance. We’re spending what feels like a significant amount of time just communicating before we even start the job.

Right now I’m nowhere near having enough clients that I’m losing work/life balance but I can see how it could become a problem if I charged half my rate and needed to work double the hours to make ends meet.

At premium rates, I have the flexibility to only offer services I enjoy doing and can refer out the ones I’d rather not do. It’s a comfort knowing I have the latitude to not be so desperate that I need to half-ass my work just to get it done faster.

I guess the lesson here is the next time you want to hire a freelancer or solo business person and feel like their rates are too high, take into consideration the tasks they’re NOT charging you for but still have to carry out.

Those emails aren’t answering themselves!

This piece was written by Kristi Keller, a woman who is revisiting the art of investing in oneself. Everyone should be doing it. It’s all the rage right now. Kristi enjoys squeezing in her cardio by running from adult responsibilities 😁 You can read all about it on her blog called Wildhood Wanted.