Embarrassed To Discuss Your Prices? Seven Common Reasons

Last week, a wonderfully-skilled electrician installed a new light fixture for us. He was competent, courteous and efficient. He answered all our questions simply, with skill and eloquence. I was amazed, as you might imagine, when I asked him, How much do we owe you? and his embarrassed reply was, Gee, is $50 okay?

With the quality of work he'd done and the amount of time he put into it, I would have expected to pay double that amount. His resistance to naming his price reminded me of my small business clients who have the same problem.

All entrepreneurs feel fear at some point, including attorneys, consultants, coaches, and writers. It's a natural part of starting or growing your business. It can be uncomfortable to take risks, to name your price and tell a prospective customer that you want to work with them.

Roberto Goizueta, the late chairman of Coca-Cola, said, "If you take risks, you may still fail; but if you do not take risks, you will surely fail. The greatest risk of all is to do nothing." Put this mantra into your head: Risk equals reward.

So, what's the problem?

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