How to price your services without guessing

When I started offering services, I did what everyone does: I asked three competitors what they charged and picked a number in the middle. It worked — until it didn't.

The problem with pricing services is that the cost isn't printed on the package. There's no supplier label saying "this service costs $X to deliver." The cost is spread across everything: your time, the rent you pay even when you're not producing, the software subscriptions running month after month, the taxes that come out of revenue — not profit.

After 17 years running businesses, I realized the path has three steps — and the order matters.

Step 1: Find out how much it costs to keep your business open

Add up everything you pay regardless of whether you have a client or not. Rent, accountant, software, internet, your own salary, phone. This is your monthly fixed cost. It's the minimum that must come in every month before any profit.

Step 2: Find out how much it costs to deliver each service

How much time does it take? How much material does it use? Is there travel involved? Are there subcontractors? Are there card or platform fees? Add up everything that only exists because that specific service exists. This is the variable cost per delivery.

Step 3: Set the margin that sustains the business

Allocated fixed cost + variable cost = the real cost of the service. Now add the margin you need — not the one that "feels fair," but the one that pays the bills, compensates your time, and still leaves room to invest.

If the final number seems too high, the problem isn't the price. It's the cost, the delivery model, or the client profile. Lowering the price without understanding the root cause just delays the problem.

What I've learned in practice: most service providers are closer to operating at a loss than they realize. Not because they charge too little — but because they don't know how much it costs to deliver. The difference between guesswork and calculation is the difference between "seems like it worked" and "I know it worked."

Service pricing isn't a feeling. It's math. And math is done with numbers, not hunches.

Open the Calculadora de Preços, enter your real costs, and see the minimum price that makes sense. 2 minutes. No sign-up required.