Discovering Your Inner Samurai Blog

What Do You Think Suzy Orman Meant?

Did you catch the October 16th NBC Nightly News broadcast?

During the "On the Money" segment I heard personal financial expert Suzy Orman give her report on the state of the U.S. economy.

If you'd like to listen to what she had to say just advance this video clip to around the 16:40 mark. She brought up a good point about how frustrated entrepreneurs have been with not being able to get loans from banks.

Then she said something that made my eyebrows go up. Suzy said,"You need to live below your means yet within your needs."

Of course, living below your means has been and always will be sound advice for any women entrepreneur interested in accumulating wealth and achieving financial independence.

However, what about the "living within your needs" part. What the heck does that mean?

The next day I put the question to a group of women entrepreneur friends I was having lunch with. This sparked a colorful and heated debate with some thinking Suzy meant women should sacrifice more (a most worisome and loathsome thought) and some thinking she meant for us to find creative ways to live within your needs.

By the end of our lunch, we had decided that instead of trying to find ways to make do with less or make do without, Suzy was galvanizing us to engage our creative, entrepreneurial muscle and start thinking up new ways to live within our needs. After all, isn't that the kind of creative thinking that spawns great entrepreneurial ideas?

What do you think Suzy meant?

Susan L. Reid
Inner Samurai Business Expert

Award-winning author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success

Coaches - Should You Raise Your Prices in 2009?

To raise or not to raise; that is the question.

As a coach, how can you justify raising your fees when every day, people are losing their jobs, homes, and their savings, left and right?

What happens if you raise your fees and end up alienating your market? Worse yet, what if you raise your fees and nothing happens?

We're living in an environment of fear. Before you throw in the towel and resolve to do nothing, keep these three things in mind:

1. Recognize that we live in a reactionary society. We are rectors. We react instead of respond. We fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants rather than plan ahead. And, when a crisis is at hand, we over-react.
2. It isn't that people don't have money, necessarily. It's that people are spending it judicially.   
3. Keep your eyes on the money. There are always going to be people who have money. When unemployment is at 7% that means that 93% of the market is gainfully employed.

The Case for Raising Your Prices

Although the overall strength or weakness of the economy may seem like a logical way to decide to raise or not to raise your prices; it isn't. What your clients will pay for your products and services has little to do with the economy. What your clients are willing to pay has to do with your perceived value.

If they perceive you as offering something that they really need, they will pay you for your service, regardless of the price.

So, should you raise your prices in 2009?

It all depends.

Keep in mind that when the economy changes, the types of products and services that become "in demand" change, too. In tough economic situations, it isn't so much about supply and demand; it's about solution and demise. If you are able to supply a specific solution to keep a client from facing demise, then the case for raising your prices can be made.

Consider this angle: When the economy slows, there is a need for new and different coaching services. Instead of raising your prices on your current services, consider adding a new product or coaching service package to meet the emerging need. If you can do that, then you will have increased how your clients perceive your value and created another revenue stream for yourself.

Raising your fees in 2009 takes careful consideration. On the one hand, you don't just want to dismiss, out-of-hand, the possibility of raising your fees. On the other hand, you don't want to price yourself out of the market by arbitrarily raising your prices. Consider the two cases put forth in this article. Then, decide for yourself if you can establish a direct link between raising your prices and your able to supply a specific solution to increase your client's profitability and success in the emerging economic market. If you can, then you're justified in raising your prices this year.

Will you be raising your coaching prices this year? What criteria will you be using to make that decision? Let us know.

Susan L. Reid
The original Accidental Pren-her™
Award-winning author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success

Happy New Year - Master Year 11

According to numerology, 2009 is an “eleven year” (2+0+0+9 = 11) and marks the beginning of a new direction for our world. In 2009, the 111th U. S. Congress will commence, and a new president will take office whose birthday reduces to the number 11.

The number 11 is a very significant, spiritual number, known in numerology as a “Master Number.” This means it has a high vibrational capacity. During an 11 year, you can attract situations to you that have far reaching implications and high level effects.

Metaphorically, the number 11 symbolizes a point in a journey where there's a fork in the road and a decision must be made. As a woman entrepreneur, will you choose the path that will ensure positive change and upward growth, or will you choose, instead, the path that portends stagnation and a loss of initiative, purpose and direction?

Great news for small business owners: As we move through 2009, we can count on Master Number 11 to birth anew the vital energy and positive thrust of life that will provide us all with renewed hope for a brighter, more successful future.

Make plans now to be poised and ready to take-off with your business soon after the mid-way point in 2009.

Susan L. Reid
The original Accidental Pren-her™
Award-winning author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success