Marketing
How to price appointments in 2026
Most service businesses price from anxiety. Here's how to price from data, with a formula you can run in 10 minutes.
Pricing your services is the most consequential decision you'll make in any given year. A 10% increase - if you don't lose clients - flows straight to profit. A 10% decrease to 'compete' kills margin faster than any marketing campaign can replace.
The 10-minute pricing formula
Take your target annual income. Add fixed costs. Divide by realistic billable hours per year (remember leave, admin, no-shows). That's your hourly rate floor. Price every service at least that much per hour.
Local market benchmarking
Check five competitors in your suburb. Not by Googling - by actually visiting their booking pages. Note the range. Price at the top third if you're differentiated, middle third if you're newer.
Raising prices
Once a year, raise prices by 5-10%. Announce it 30 days in advance via email. Expect maybe 2% churn. Make it net-positive on the first day.