Pricing With Confidence: Why Free, Cheap & Just Matching Others Is Costing You More Than You Think

If you’ve ever said any of these things, this episode is for you:

“I’ll just do it for free this once.”
 “I’m not sure what to charge yet.”
 “I don’t want to scare people off.”
 “I’ll charge more once I’m more experienced.”

Pricing is one of the biggest reasons dog-sitting businesses stay stuck as side hustles instead of becoming profitable, professional, fully booked businesses.

And here’s the hard truth:
 You can be amazing with dogs… and still burn out, resent your clients, or quit altogether if your pricing isn’t right.

Today we’re talking about:

• Why you should never work for free
• How to transition from free or “mates rates” to being paid
• Why asking other sitters what they charge is a trap
• How to actually work out what you should charge
• And why being “cheap” can quietly kill your business

This episode will change how you think about money in your dog-sitting business

Join the Paws To Profit program here https://pawstoprofit.com.au/ 

And dont forget to follow on instagram for more tips, insights and suppawt. 

Transcript

00:00.95
Tanya williams
Hey, it's Tanya here, founder of Paws to Profit and chief pausing at 3SportsDogs, back with another episode of the Paws to Profit program. And today we're talking about pricing and pricing with confidence. So why free, cheap and just matching others is costing you more than you think. Now, if you've ever said any of these things, I'll do it for free just this once. I'm not sure what to charge yet. I don't want to scare people off. I'll charge more once I'm experienced.

00:31.06
Tanya williams
Then this episode is for you. Pricing is one of the biggest reasons dog sitting businesses stay stuck as side hustles instead of becoming profitable professional fully booked businesses.

00:42.74
Tanya williams
And here's the hard truth, you can be amazing with dogs and still burn out, resent your clients and quit altogether if your pricing isn't right. So today I want to talk about why you should never work for free.

00:55.67
Tanya williams
How to transition from free or mate's rates to being paid. Why asking other sitters what they are what they charge is just a trap and you should never do. How to actually work out what you should charge and why being cheap can quietly kill your biz Kill your business. Now, I want to change how you think about money in your dog sitting biz.

01:17.37
Tanya williams
And that's a good thing, right? Because if you're thinking any of those things, then you need to change your mindset. So let's start with the big one. Why you shouldn't work for free. Okay, so, you know, free work. you You know, if you do free trials, you're helping out with friends, you know, you're just watching them for the weekend, you're doing it for exposure. phil might Free might feel harmless at first, especially if you love dogs. But free work teaches people one thing, that your time, your responsibility and expertise have no value.

01:47.77
Tanya williams
That dog sitting isn't just cuddles and cute photos, right? It's responsibility for a living being. It's time you can't replace. It's emotional labor. You know, you're putting yourself, your own self at risk because it's a huge responsibility. There's physical work, disrupted routines and a very real accountability if something goes wrong.

02:08.92
Tanya williams
So when you work for free, people don't respect your boundaries. They cancel last minute. They push limits and they don't take you seriously as a professional. Free clients always never turn into great paying clients.

02:22.78
Tanya williams
They turn into people who expect free forever. And I'm sure some of you listening to this can relate to that. And it also recreates resentment, right? And it's the fastest way to fall out of love with business that you actually enjoy is by just doing everything for free.

02:39.13
Tanya williams
So if you are doing stuff for free, how do you move from free to getting paid without feeling awkward about the whole situation? So if you've been doing it for free, you don't have to stay stuck there, but you do need to change the conversation and you need to change your mindset around this.

02:57.98
Tanya williams
So you are not charging for fun. You are formalizing your service. So think about it in that context. It's not about just charging because you want to fun. It's about formalizing what you do and you need to start framing it professionally. So tell people, I'm now running this as a business.

03:17.50
Tanya williams
I've put proper systems, insurance and capacity limits in place, which is why i am now charging. You know, we've changed our structure and now I charge for my services. Those types of sayings and explanations will help you move from free to paid. You don't need to apologize for it. You don't need to over-explain it. You don't need to justify it.

03:39.70
Tanya williams
The right clients will actually respect it and the wrong ones will disappear. And you know what? It doesn't matter if the wrong ones disappear because they're not a right fit. Moving to paid work also means you'll have clear pricing, We'll have clear inclusions, clear boundaries and confidence when you say that number. This is how much we charge per day or per night.

04:01.27
Tanya williams
So confidence doesn't come after pricing properly. It comes from pricing properly.

04:10.14
Tanya williams
So this is one of my bugbears, right? I'm going to talk about why you shouldn't ask other people to charge. Now, I see this in dog groups constantly. Oh, someone's asked me about this. What should I charge? Oh, my God. Asking another dog sitter what they charge feels logical, not. but it's one of the most damaging habits I see in this industry. And here's why.

04:33.53
Tanya williams
Because you don't know what their costs are, what their capacity is, what their stress levels are, what their experience is how profitable they are, what their boundaries are, or whether they are actually making any sort of money, right?

04:45.98
Tanya williams
Many cities are under charge, they're burnt out, they haven't calculated everything, and their pricing is based on fear. Oh my God, if I'm too expensive, they'll book somewhere else, rather than strategy.

04:58.26
Tanya williams
So when you copy someone else's pricing, you inherit their problems because pricing isn't a group decision. It's a business decision. Your rate should be based on your business, not someone else's business or someone else's comfort level.

05:13.88
Tanya williams
Please stop asking other people what they charge. So now let's talk about how to actually work out what you should charge. And this is where you need to get practical.

05:26.27
Tanya williams
priing Pricing should start with facts, not feelings. So you need to look at things like how many dogs can I realistically take at one time? How many dogs per day or per year do I want to work with? So if you're doing daycare, it's like, well, how many dogs can I realistically have? And what you know how many do I need to actually make this business sustainable?

05:46.87
Tanya williams
What income do you want to need to turn this into a proper actual business? And what are your expenses? So when you look at things like insurance, supplies, you know, admin time and stuff like that, you need to factor those expenses into place. So when you look at what income you want to earn and what your expenses are, then you have a bit of a picture of how much money you actually need to make.

06:06.84
Tanya williams
um So then you can start to figure out what it is you actually need to charge. Okay, so sit down and do your numbers, get a notepad, write all that stuff down and cost it out.

06:18.20
Tanya williams
Again, it doesn't have to be rocket science, but you do need to do a little bit of work to figure it all out. So if you can only take, say, one or two dogs at any time. Maybe you could charge more and offer it as a premium or VIP service because your entire positioning then becomes around exclusivity and that you do this one-on-one service where you only have one or two dogs.

06:40.31
Tanya williams
So again, just because you have less dogs doesn't mean you don't have to charge the same amount as everybody else because the way you position your service can be totally different. Okay. So dog sitting dog sitting has a ceiling. I wish I could say yes to every single person who wants my services, but I can't because there's only so many dogs that I can have at any one time, not just physically, you know, at ah at our home, but for my emotional and mental stability as well, right?

07:08.57
Tanya williams
You can't scale by me working more hours and just putting more dogs into the mix and and where it becomes unsustainable. So this means your pricing has to do the heavy lifting and your rates should reflect that.

07:21.24
Tanya williams
So if you've got limited capacity, you've got a lot of responsibility, you've got one-to-one small group care, personalized service, you know, all those things have to be taken into account. And the fact that you're running a business and not doing favors says a lot.

07:36.12
Tanya williams
So if your pricing doesn't support your lifestyle, your energy and your boundaries, then it's wrong. So why does being too cheap kill your business? Now, this is the stuff that you may not want to hear, but you need to hear it. Okay.

07:50.55
Tanya williams
Cheap pricing attracts the price shoppers. I just want to give me, just give me a price. That's all I care about. And they're not necessarily going to be the right fit for you. It attracts high maintenance clients. Those clients that don't want to pay for anything, but they want the world and we all have them are a nightmare.

08:07.26
Tanya williams
It attracts boundary pushes. Oh, but can you just do this? Can we just make it later pick up? Can you just do this like also as well and take them for a walk and so forth? And they'll push your boundaries and push your buttons and you don't want that.

08:19.86
Tanya williams
And it also attracts things like last minute cancellations because they don't value your service and they're constantly negotiating. Oh, but hang on, they're staying two weeks. Can you do it for this price? No.

08:31.54
Tanya williams
If people don't value your service, they don't deserve you. You know, you don't people don't go and ask their hairdresser or their accountant or their lawnmower to do a job for free or can you do it at this super cheap rate.

08:43.22
Tanya williams
So why are they asking you to do it? Because you are providing a super valuable service as a family, you know, to their valuable family member. So when you price price low, that means you need more clients to survive. You're always busier, but you're never ahead and you're burnt out. You have no buffer for sickness, holidays or life stuff.

09:01.40
Tanya williams
And yeah, you burn out super fast, right? So cheap doesn't make you more competitive. It makes you replaceable. Premium pricing doesn't mean luxury. It means intentional.

09:12.18
Tanya williams
So when you price properly, clients value you. They follow your rules. They plan ahead. They respect your time and they stay longer. Your goal isn't to be the cheapest.

09:23.54
Tanya williams
Your goal is to be the right choice for the people that you want to attract.

09:29.40
Tanya williams
Now, I want to talk now about pricing as a form of self-respect. So this is bigger than money. So pricing is about self-respect. It's about boundaries. It's about sustainability, about believing that what you offer matters.

09:43.16
Tanya williams
now You can love dogs and run a profitable business. You can, you know, be kind and charge confidently. You can care deeply without undercharging because dog sitting becomes a real career when you stop treating it like a favor or a hobby.

09:59.51
Tanya williams
Now, if pricing feels uncomfortable, then that can be normal at the start, but staying underpaid is far more uncomfortable in the long run. Now, You know, we include more in pricing in the Pause to Profit program where we break it down about, you know, how to calculate it and communicate it and how to increase it and so forth. So if you want to know more about that, go and have a look at the Pause to Profit program, pausetoprofit.com.au.

10:22.23
Tanya williams
But, you know, this stuff is super important. You don't need to guess. You don't need to copy others. You shouldn't be asking anyone else what they charge. You don't need to feel stuck. So if you're ready to move from just helping out with dogs to running a business that actually supports your life, then Pause to Profit is where it starts.

10:39.70
Tanya williams
So that's me for another episode of the Pulse to Profit podcast. Pricing is such an important thing, guys. I can't reiterate reiterate how important this this stuff can make or break your business and it can stop you from moving to from a hobby to an actual proper business. It is something that you really need to take some time on. So do that do those exercises and go and figure out what your pricing structure needs to look like. And please, please, please stop asking other people about what they charge and just copying what they do. So that's my rant over and done with for today. i hope you enjoyed this episode. Please subscribe. Please share with other people that you may um that you think may need to hear this because, ah you know, that sort of stuff helps us. And, of course, please leave a review because reviews help other people find us and help more of you as well.

11:30.35
Tanya williams
Stay pawsome until the next episode.