This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
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I have a meeting with a group of South East school listeners and readers of The Money Tree, my new book, who've been interested in forming a group called The Third Way. If you haven't read The Money Tree in that book, there's a group called The Third Way that consists of people who are all trying to, you know, start a little business without quitting their job. The same kind of thing I talk about here, you know, every day on the podcast. And so I've been doing these meetings every other week on Zoom. If you'd like to join, you're more than welcome to, just come to aonsc.co/thirdway1.
That's aonsc.co/thirdway1. You can get on a list for it. And on these calls, we've heard from lots of different listeners and readers who've shared various ideas, given feedback, you know, asked questions, you know, looking for advice and such. It's really a lot of fun, and I hope that it's helpful to everybody who's on the calls. So what about a side hustle that deals with a sensitive yet important issue?
I got to thinking about this because on one of those calls recently, we heard from someone who's doing end of life care, serving individuals in that situation, as well as their families, like a family who's caring for someone who's at the end of their lives. And if you think about it, it's a very important need. You also have to navigate all sorts of issues related to it. So if someone can be helpful in that process and has been through it, you know, before, maybe personally, but then also in a professional setting, they know what questions to ask, they know what suggestions to make, they know how to encourage families to make certain decisions. Then of course, it's very valuable.
Like I think most of us would say that that is tremendously valuable. Yet it can also be difficult to think about charging money for a service like that. Even though, of course, you need to be able to do that. Like how do you actually price a service? How do you deal with that?
So we talked about that a bit on the call. And in this episode, another listener who's also part of the Third Way Group recently launched a coaching service for parents and caregivers of autistic kids. So similar issue here, you know, important service, but how can she decide on her pricing? That's what we'll talk about in this episode. Here's a message from our sponsor.
We'll hear from Judy and dive into this issue. [Music]
Hi Chris, this is Judy from Asheville, North Carolina. I love your show and your side hustle encouragement. I recently launched a parenting coaching service for people like me, parents and caregivers of autistic kids. It's called the Parenting Champion.
My question is, how do I price my services? I have two service options. The first is a one-time parent coaching session. And the second is a customized parent coaching option for a more individualized and long-term plan. As the parent of an autistic child, I know the budget for services that are not covered by insurance can be tight.
I don't want to underprice my service and expertise, but I don't want to price over what families can afford. Is a sliding scale a good idea where I can adjust or set the price each time? Or should I just use a flat fee? Thanks Chris for your thoughts and any suggestions that you have. - Judy, thank you so much for this message.
And at the time she left this message, I don't think we had talked as much as we have in the group. And so I just want to specifically address this question about the sliding scale. I think this could be helpful for somebody else in that situation. And again, anybody out there, you're welcome to join us in the Third Way Group that's meeting online via Zoom every other week. aonc.co/thirdway1.
I will link it up in the notes as well. So specifically on this issue of sliding scale, I don't actually think Judy should adjust her price each time. That gets complicated. It essentially becomes pay what you will. It's almost like you go into every situation with the same conversation of like, well, what does it cost?
Well, I don't know, what can you pay? It's just, it's overly complicated. And pay what you will is not usually a good idea. So what I think is better is to think about what the price of the service would be in a circumstance where someone's finances weren't constrained. Or let's just be very direct and say, with a wealthy family.
If you've got a wealthy family, one or more of their children has autism and they're looking for this service, what is the fair market value of what you're offering them? And then from there, the sliding scale that I think of would be to recognize that not every family is in a situation of being able to pay fair market value. So there's a discount or a partial scholarship option for those who need it. So you essentially have two prices, but you always kind of base things on what is the market value. So that if you are providing a discount or a scholarship, it's pretty clear.
It's like, well, here's what the price is, but yes, I do have an option, a solution for people who are not able to pay that. And then I might also suggest that you limit your client list and say something like, okay, I can serve X number of families, whatever it turns out to be at the discount rate, each month, each year, again, whatever it is. And once that's full, I'll only take on new clients at the standard rate. And that's not meant to exclude anybody. It's just partly to protect yourself so that you can continue to be of service to families going forward.
If you're trying to start a side hustle, like I've talked before, it's not a hobby. It's not just a charity. Like, I think it's good to have hobbies and to do charitable work. But if there is this income generating component to it, which again, is totally fine. People have lots of different needs.
If you're qualified to provide them, you should be paid for it. Then it needs to be sustainable so that you can avoid burnout. So that's what I think about. I wouldn't go into a situation where every single experience is going to be a different price. I would say, what is the market value?
And then provide a discount or a partial scholarship for those who need it. Thanks again, Judy, for the question. Keep doing your good work. And listeners, if you've got a question of your own, come to sidehustleschool.com/questions. We will keep featuring them throughout the year.
It's one of my favorite things about the program. And I look forward to hearing about more listeners launching their projects. Thank you so much. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School.
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From the Onward Project.
