One dollar from 1995 is only worth .64 cents today.
That means the money you made 20 years ago only has 64% of the buying power today. Your money is worth 36% less today than it was in 1995.
Staggering.
So tell me then, why are you still charging the same rates you charged 20 years ago?
I know, I know... I've heard all the excuses:
- "I don't want to be a burden on people..."
- "My students will quit if I raise my rates..."
- "Nobody will pay those rates around here..."
- "The other schools all charge 'X', so we do too..."
- "It's easier to get people to sign up when my rates are low..."
And on, and on. But the bottom line is, when your clients go to work at the same job, year after year, they expect their pay to go up over time. And when you hire employees, they expect regular increases in pay as well - and if they don't get them, they tend to find other means of employment.
So why should it be any different for you? Every other business out there raises their rates over time. Restaurants, dentists, attorneys, home builders, accountants... everyone raises their rates over time, because if there's one thing that's constant, it's this:
==> Inflation goes up, year after year, and your money buys less, year after year.
Which is why you are going to make less and less money for the same work, year after year, and get more and more broke, unless you raise your rates every year.
But here's the thing - you can't just raise your rates across the board and expect people to jump up and down for joy. Ain't gonna happen.
Nope. You have to be smart about it, and fair, otherwise you actually will piss people off and lose students.
Which is why we're going to spend the rest of the week and part of next week on how to raise your tuition rates without losing students.
