Pricing · Lesson 2
Value-based fees
Price by what the result is worth to the client, not only by your hours.
Hourly pricing rewards slowness and caps your income. Value-based pricing links your fee to the result the client gets: money saved, money earned, risk reduced, time won back. Your cost is the floor; the value to the client is the ceiling. Your price sits between them.
To price by value, you must understand the client's situation. Ask in discovery: 'What does success look like? What is it worth to you if this goes well? What does it cost you if nothing changes?' Clients who can answer give you the information to set a confident fee.
Value pricing works best when the outcome is clear and significant. It is harder for routine work with many competitors. Use it selectively, start with your strongest offers, and always present the fee alongside the value, so the client compares the price with the return, not with another firm's hourly rate.
Example — Hypothetical: a faster approval
A developer loses ₦25m in financing costs for each month of planning delay. A firm's approvals service, with a strong track record, saves about two months. A fee of ₦8m is easy to justify — against an hourly estimate of ₦3m.
Try this
For one recent project, write down what the result was worth to the client. Compare that to what you charged.
Reflect
Which of your services produces a result your clients could put a clear number on?