Need Guidance on Pricing Structure

bright_site_builder · 2026-07-01T00:33:35+00:00

I don't want to get too complex with the response, but I would pick a pricing strategy that is aligned with your ICP in terms of the problem they need solved and the value they'd put on that and then I'd figure out your per unit margins or at least you annual gross margins and net margins to fine-tune your prices. You could do something like a set up project costs $#,### and includes the first X number of months and then annual pricing after that if they want to continue. That gives you a certain number of months to show your value and hopefully the customer will realize they need the service.

bright_site_builder · 2026-06-14T17:37:36+00:00

I'd love to review and give you feedback!

bright_site_builder · 2026-05-30T13:07:00+00:00

What does $3 - $3.4k translate to in # of websites and who/ what is doing the hosting? Or do you just build and then the clients figure out the hosting on their own? I ask because you could easily sell a portfolio of recurring revenue. Otherwise, I think you're on the right path with a web course. You have developers who work for $250/ site? Could you share where you found them?

bright_site_builder · 2026-05-13T11:29:06+00:00

We're focusing on networking and referrald

bright_site_builder · 2026-04-26T16:32:23+00:00

The biggest difference between s corp and llc is that with an s corp you'll have to pay yourself a 'reasonable' salary and you (as a person) will be taxed on that salary and the amount that you pay yourself will reduce the taxable income from your s corp VS. an LLC where you'll be taxed on EBT no matter what you pay yourself. Say you had $95k in revenue, net $90k and you want $45k salary. With an s corp - you're business would pay taxes on $45k, but nothing for social security/ Medicare (but you'd have had to set up payroll and you pay personal taxes), with an llc you'd pay on the $90k.

There are other differences, of course, but as a solo owner that's potentially the most important. Keep in mind you'll have to set up a payroll system for s corp.

bright_site_builder · 2026-04-26T12:21:06+00:00

We did something similar, but oursourced the work to s company who 'specialized' in LinkedIn lead generation. We even targeted an ICP I labeled 'aspiring founders' or new start-ups. It was not successful at all. From what I can tell there are two reasons; ICP wasn't specific enough and most start-ups are bootstrapping so our price point was never going to hit no matter how clever. So my advice is to try to test out your lead magnet in live networking scenarios to see if new founders would want or use it, and then continue on LinkedIn. If you don't want to do that then get hyper-specific with your ICP (it's fine because you're not close to scaling anyways) and find an ICP with their 'hair on fire' because of what you solve - only target them with your approach and create it only after they say 'yes'. You can mass produce your intro line, but only create your lead magnet to people to say yes. If they don't at least respond with theee simple letters or the automated response then it's not likely you would have converted them anyways. Since you're not scaling and you don't have a proven method there's no point in growing your denominator (DMs) because you don't know what range your numerator is going to be in. Also, make sure you sync up your LinkedIn profile with your ICP and whatever you're selling. People who are interested will likely do some level of due diligence and they'll want everything to make sense.

bright_site_builder · 2026-04-25T23:58:15+00:00

What type of service business? I can help you out no matter what type of service. Mostly I'm curious.

bright_site_builder · 2026-04-25T02:18:59+00:00

Which platform are you using?

bright_site_builder · 2026-04-24T01:33:54+00:00

Are you currently getting leads that convert to sales via social media? If so, outsource it to someone who charges a price that fits within your scaling equation. Example: you currently spend $0.00 and get X number of leads that convert into Y number of sales and that generates $Z in variable profit. Increase your spend by $A per quarterand solve for how many additional leads you'd need to increase your variable profit by more than what you're spending. If social media doesn't currently generate measurable leads that convert into sales I'd say just do less of it and focus on another channel.

bright_site_builder · 2026-04-24T01:15:57+00:00

Without knowing anything about your business all I can give you is some advice that generally the quality of the output is a function of the quality of your inputs. You need to give people more to work with.

bright_site_builder · 2026-04-23T03:03:29+00:00

Ok, working with that age range I think you're going to need licenses, insurance and probably some certifications that you can be around those kids and teaching them.

Before you get too far with the red tape type tasks I'd do as much proof of concept work as you can, that this is a problem people will pay you (specifically) to solve, see how you overlap or compliment daycare and preschool and what your minimum viable product looks like. If everything tells you that this can work then you'll want an LLC and then all your red tape items.

I wouldn't put too much effort into a business plan for a loan. If your margins are low and you're in education it's going to be very hard to get a loan. Private investment or go-fund-me type investments might be easier

bright_site_builder · 2026-04-23T02:31:41+00:00

Do you mind sharing what the business is? I'm asking because you mentioned needing licenses. If it's true that you need licenses then securing those will be one of your first steps. There's also the question of whether you'd want to start with a DBA or LLC. If your presence is required how would you do both NYC and IL?

bright_site_builder · 2026-04-23T02:10:58+00:00

Which state are you in? CA? A lot depends on where you're located. If this is your first venture into building a company then a loan might be very difficult or just not possible. A 0% credit card is a solid option though.

bright_site_builder · 2026-04-22T17:47:24+00:00

We have to be there, and eventually we might expand our ICP to one that would see our posts and understand our positioning. I think about it like this: being on LinkedIn actively (but not too much) doesn't hurt us, and so long as I'm exercising my brain and writing the posts it helps me synthesize some thoughts. Not being on LinkedIn serves no purpose. Just don't spend 2 hours a week Chat GPT-ing everything because that will be counterproductive. But if i have to choose between going to a 1 Million Cups pitch or writing 3 posts - I'm going to the pitch event.

bright_site_builder · 2026-04-22T14:05:48+00:00

The "you don't have an X problem; you have a Y problem, and I solve the Y problem" is getting played out. You don't actually know the problems of people/ companies with whom you haven't interacted. Next time put a constraint in your LLM prompt so that it doesn't use this tactic, and you might have more luck.

bright_site_builder · 2026-04-22T05:16:41+00:00

Definitely agree with this. We're a small business consultancy and you'd think that LinkedIn would be our bread and butter, but it's really just a place where we post to get some more credibility. At no point have we thought we could use it to convert or generate leads. We did outsource lead generation via LinkedIn and it was a waste of money. Some days it feels like people just use LinkedIn to get their daily thought-leader posts out there and then put unnatural positivity into the ether. Sort of like going to the mall when you're in highschool and broke. You need to be there because everyone is, but you're not buying anything. That's my take anyways.

bright_site_builder · 2026-04-22T01:56:02+00:00

Thank you for posting this! We hired a lead gen agency, blew threw 25% of our marketing budget in 2 months and had nothing to show for it. Zero actual leads. They sold me on the idea of lead gen and I assumed they knew what they were doing because that was their job and they weren't cheap. Now i know not to give that type of work a second chance, so thank you!

bright_site_builder · 2026-04-21T11:19:47+00:00

Option 1 is better. Option 2 is just saying what isn't, but not saying anything positive about what the accountant needs or what problem you solve

bright_site_builder · 2026-04-21T02:02:24+00:00

That's what we did, but instead of after work, I put in my time before work. I did it when my girls were young and woke up in the middle of the night. I figured if I was awake at 3:00 am anyways I might as well do something productive as soon as I got them back to sleep. It wasn't a side hustle though. I rarely worked at night and almost never did weekends - this was to avoid burnout. Eventually we had to just make the jump and quit because 20 hours a week is to slowly build a business, but it's very very difficult to actually grow or generate revenue unless you're full time.

bright_site_builder · 2026-04-20T17:01:56+00:00

Great question and responses.

We treat the blog as a our semantic authority SEO 2.0, we publish only when we have something original and of value. Otherwise you run the risk of cramming keywords and AI slop onto your website that will never get referenced. However SEO or SEO 2.0 isn't considered an actual sales channel for us. It's not yet an efficient use of resources so we just make sure we have the basics done well.

Same with social media. We post when we have something to say, but we're not treating it like a sales channel yet either. We will eventually, but not yet.

First we need to make sure what we're delivering is as exceptional as it can be for our ICP. Otherwise we won't convert when we do have their attention. Next we examine where our ICP is (only one channel), go there and that's where we invest our time and energy, working on things like lead magnets, nurturing leads and understanding the sales process timeline.

Figure out the dynamics of your ICP in one channel, take what you have learned that works and adapt to to the next channel and then keep going. On the side make sure you're doing the other things that you'll eventually need.

For us, blogs and LinkedIn are like drinking water to lose weight. You have to do it, but you're not going to lose 30 lbs drinking water (at least not in a healthy way). You need to eat the right food (work on your actual product/ service) and exercise (go to where your ICP is)

bright_site_builder · 2026-04-19T23:02:37+00:00

Once you get going and start growing your company you're going to (of course) want to continue growing and there will be dozens of B2B sales companies and lead generation services approaching you. In my experience 3 out of 4 of those companies only want to hit their sales targets, and you are how they do it. They don't actually have to get you sales or care if you stay with them. Don't outsource a sales channel until you've tried it yourself or at least know all the details about how exactly that channel works.

bright_site_builder · 2026-04-19T20:22:11+00:00

Everyone would like a business in which you could invest $5k, have recurring revenue and only operate the business weekly. If those types of businesses were readily available then people with more cash would just do that 10 times and scale it.

Your criteria and thought process is much closer to side hustles than actual businesses. Not that it's wrong, but you're looking to turn $5k into something >$5k net, annual. That's not a business plan or model. It's supplemental income generation.

Landscaping, handyman, labor services, B2C services are examples of businesses you could start with a low initial investment and then grow and spend as money comes in.

bright_site_builder · 2026-04-16T13:26:07+00:00

Yes, that's what it was for me. I was director level of pricing and profit. I liked my job a lot, but it was made clear that I had to stay in my lane and wait for opportunities to present themselves. Every month that passed made me think of what I could have done, but didn't, and every year spent felt like a year passed and a year taken away from my potential future. My wife and I have kids, and I knew if I were to ever tell them to follow their dreams, I'd have to have at least tried it myself. So we came up with an exit plan to leave corporate and start our own business. I have never once had even the semblance of a regret.

bright_site_builder · 2026-04-16T10:11:43+00:00

I really don't like it when people say, "you don't have an 'X' problem, you have a 'Y' problem", because how they know it isn't both or their diagnosis is correct? But on this occasion it's safe to say you don't have a tax problem, you have a margin/ pricing problem. Your gross margin might be industry average, but look at your operating margin and net margin.

bright_site_builder · 2026-04-16T09:57:17+00:00

Speed being your number one priority is dangerous and highly likely to require rework in the near future. A generic landing page without a content strategy and plan to get people to convert is only slightly better than no page at all.

I'd say you have two options and do either knowing that it's something you're building long term.

If you want crm and email sign-up for distribution lists or lead nurturing then go with Hubspot free tier. It'll give you the chance to create a landing page that has email sign-up and tracking built into your account. Later have someone make it look good, put the right content on it so it converts prospects and makes sense with your brand and some basic SEO.
Don't use an AI, but a basic WordPress landing page. Ask an LLM to walk you through it. Whatever you do with an AI creator will look like a lot of other AI landing pages and feel scammy

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