Council Post: You Are Not Charging Enough Money

By Colby Davis, CEO of Davis Painting.

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I am sure there are a number of people who are triggered by the title of this article, but someone has to tell you the harsh truth.

I grew up in a blue-collar family with a father who had his own plumbing company. To this day I remember two things in particular about my dad: He never missed a weekend to take me to Dunkin Donuts and fishing, and he worked a lot. You could say I learned a lot from my dad in terms of work ethic, but I also learned what not to do. My dad had that old-school mentality that no one could do the job better than him. Even though he was very good at what he did, he worked all day, would come home to have dinner and then work all night plumbing. Why? It was mainly just my dad working for his company with no help.

My father made a decent living and provided very well for us, but to say it came at an expense would be an understatement. He dealt with exhaustion, needed knee and shoulder surgeries and had no company giving him a match in a retirement fund or paying his wages if, God forbid, he got hurt.

At 21, I started my first company with this exact same mindset. It wasn’t until about five years in that I thought: What am I doing? What does my future look like, and where will my business be in 10 years? It was at that moment (multiple pinched nerves and many sacrificed weekends and nights later) that I decided it was time to hang up the brush.

I searched for the best of the best. I stumbled across this man by the name of Tony Robbins earlier in my 20s, and I decided to dig in deeper. I went down a rabbit hole of notes, books, talks and podcasts looking to find that golden nugget that would transform my life. One day, I looked in the mirror and realized that golden nugget was staring right back at me. It was me. I was the only one who could make something of my company. All the motivational talks and books in the world couldn’t do it for me.

I developed standards and a list of core values. I got to work hiring people to help us grow and prosper, and then I hit a wall. In 2020, Covid happened, and it made me understand I needed to take this business seriously. From 2020 to 2021, I developed strategies and my “playbook.” We grew over 100% and entered a phase I call “hyper-growth.”

I hired one of my best friends of nearly a decade as my CMO. This was our first large key hire, but I knew was very necessary to get us to the next level. We decided to rebrand not only Davis but my other Davis Brand companies as well. It was the best decision we ever made.

The brand was done, and I knew we needed to keep hiring, but where was I going to put these people? We had this massive headquarters, but it was pretty much an empty warehouse. They say every entrepreneur has their own “superpower,” and I believe mine is being a visionary. I had been all in, but I now decided to double down. I spent a ton of time, money and effort building the Davis HQ into something that was welcoming, fun and a place people would love to come to every day.

In 2023, we will grow another 75%. By 2025, I am aiming for my company to be one of the largest residential painting companies in the U.S. That’s not just a dart board thought; that’s an actual plan. I can tell you exactly what we need to make happen and what KPIs need to be every week, day, month, quarter and year in order to stay on track.

Why am I babbling about all of this? Well, first off, I sleep well at night knowing that even though our prices aren’t cheap, we provide high-quality services. See, growing up, I was taught to always “get a deal,” “see if you could get things cheaper” and “never pay full price.” But what does that say about you as a person? You are living with a scarcity mindset instead of an abundance mindset.

So if you find yourself catering to this sort of mindset by not charging enough based on the quality of your services, it might be time to bump up the prices. Raising your prices might be a scary thought, but if you do these couple of things it can be a breeze.

1. Make sure you have a strong brand. A cup of coffee at home costs under $1 to make, but there is a reason Starbucks charges more—brand. With a strong brand, meaning design recognition throughout the company and everything about your company being “branded,” this can help immensely.

2. Provide value. Too many companies try to sell rather than educate. Educate your client on what the industry standard should be. In other words, what do you do that provides more value? This can then set a standard for your competition and make your chances of getting hired higher.

3. Be authentic. Tell your story to your clients and talk to them. For example, at my company, we do a client appreciation day once a year. We invite all of our clients to a baseball game or something of that sort. It shows you are human; and now more than ever, people are starving for good, quality communication.

Committing to quality services over low prices will steer you away from a scarcity mindset and help you get the most out of what your company offers. Once you strengthen your brand and provide value and authenticity, you can stand proud and tall knowing that you’re earning what you and your company are worth.