When it's time to raise your prices

Many professionals put off a price review out of fear of losing clients. But prices that no longer reflect real cost and time end up costing more than the client you might lose.

Signs your price has fallen behind

• A service's profit per hour is noticeably lower than your other services
• Material costs have risen while the price hasn't
• The service takes longer than it did when the price was set
• Your calendar is full, but profit at month-end is lower than expected

Deciding with numbers, not a feeling

Instead of relying on instinct, look at the actual figures: how a service's profit per hour compares to your average, and what its margin looks like. If both trail behind your other services, that's an objective signal — not just a hunch.

Raising prices without the shock

Small, regular adjustments usually meet less resistance than a rare, large jump. It helps to treat this as routine business hygiene rather than a one-off decision.

CULTUS shows profit per hour and margin for every service, so a price review is based on numbers instead of guesswork.