when to bite the bullet

One of my biggest mistakes when I first started the business was not transferring all of my costs through to the clients. A large part of this mistake was just inexperience and not realizing how much it actually costs to make something. Not factoring in things like shipping costs, gas & wear on the car, packaging materials, etc into the price of your products can really effect your margins.

But all of that to say, sometimes you bite the bullet and eat the extra costs. The BEST advertising (and often the cheapest) is a happy client. Let me tell you a story, a stamp story.

photo credit:USPS

Earlier this year stamp prices went up, as they do. Most wedding invitations can be sent with the 2oz wedding cake stamp. While this stamp isn't the cutest thing ever, its classic/understated design and  neutral coloring is great for wedding invites. These stamps were 66¢ but the pricing for 2oz letters was now 70¢. No problem, I would just go get the new 70¢ stamps because the price had changed, the post office now sold new stamps...right? Wrong. There were no 70¢ stamps. Not just at my post office, there were no stamps at all, the government hadn't even come out with new stamps yet.

This was the solution:

Slap a 4¢ stamp next to the now outdated cake stamp. It's not the ugliest stamp I have ever seen, but it's definitely not the solution I was looking for. Instead we decided to put a forever wedding rose stamp (the same stamp we used for the reply envelopes) next to the wedding cake stamp. We ended up paying 45¢ over postage for each invite, but the invitations looked a lot better. This worked out to about $100 that we didn't charge the client.

It's important to keep track of every business expense, and the price of your products should incorporate most of those hidden expenses. After all, goods and services sold are the lifeline of the business. However it is equally, if not more, important for the client to have a wonderful experience and that can't happen if they feel they are constantly being nickel and dimed. My best advice would be to use discernment with each situation, and ask yourself What would I expect as a client? Would I find this reasonable to pay if they explained the additional cost?

ps: They do sell 70¢ stamps now ;)