Pricing strategies for solopreneurs can feel overwhelming, especially for coaches trying to decide what to charge. There is no single “correct” price—pricing is a mix of science and art, shaped by your goals, your clients, and the stage of your business.
I’ve used these pricing strategies while building both consumer and enterprise products, and I’ve seen them play out repeatedly with solopreneurs and coaches. The goal here isn’t to tell you what to charge. It’s to help you think clearly about how to price your time, energy, and value (second-guessing is part of the journey).
Below are the most common pricing strategies for solopreneurs—and when each one helps or hurts.
1. Pricing Strategies for Solopreneurs: Pricing Based on What the Market Will Bear
Market-based pricing asks a simple question:
“What are people willing to pay for something like this?”
For coaches, this often means:
- reviewing other coaches’ websites
- talking to peers
- hearing what prospects have paid before
Pros
- Anchors you in reality
- Reduces the risk of extreme mispricing
- Helpful when entering a new niche
Cons
- Markets are noisy and inconsistent
- You may be comparing yourself to poorly positioned competitors
- Early markets often underprice real value
Key takeaway:
Your market is not “all coaches.” It’s the subset of people who resonate with your experience, framing, and promise. Two coaches can solve the same problem and charge very different prices—both successfully.
2. Cost-Plus Pricing (Time, Expenses, Income Goals)
Cost-plus is another interesting way to think about your price as it can leverage bottom’s up and top down strategy. I find that even if you don’t use cost-plus, that you go through this exercise to better understand your goals and margins. Cost-plus pricing starts with your inputs:
- desired annual income
- number of weeks worked
- hours of client work
- business expenses
You then work backward to a rate.
Example:
“I want to earn $120k per year, work 48 weeks, and spend 20 hours per week with clients.”
Pros
- Rational and easy to calculate
- Helps prevent chronic under-earning
- Useful as a baseline
Cons
- Clients don’t care about your costs
- Caps your upside
- Reinforces trading time for money
Key takeaway:
Cost-plus pricing defines a floor, not your worth. It tells you what you need to survive—not what your work is worth to a client.
3. Pricing Based on Competitors
Competitor-based pricing says:
“I’ll price roughly where others like me are priced.”
This is common—and risky.
Pros
- Fast to implement
- Reduces decision anxiety
- Helps establish basic positioning
Cons
- You inherit others’ mistakes
- You don’t know their margins or demand
- Discourages differentiation
Key takeaway:
Pricing slightly below competitors is still a signal. It often communicates uncertainty—even if that’s not your intention. Price is never neutral.
4. Pricing Based on Time vs. Value
This is where many solopreneurs feel stuck as it’s the most intuitive, but also limits your upside.
Time-Based Pricing
Examples:
- hourly coaching
- session bundles
- retainers tied to availability
Pros
- Familiar and easy to explain
- Low friction early on
Cons
- Penalizes efficiency as it doesn’t immediately correlate to your revenue
- Hard to scale
- Anchors conversations around hours instead of outcomes
Value-Based Pricing
Value-based pricing ties price to outcomes or transformation.
Examples:
- programs
- engagements
- cohorts
- outcome-driven packages
Pros
- Aligns price with impact
- Scales better
- Attracts more committed clients
Cons
- Requires confidence
- Requires clarity of promise
- Takes practice to communicate
Key takeaway:
Clients don’t hire coaches for time. They hire them for change. Pricing closer to outcomes creates healthier dynamics for both sides.
Bringing It Together
Pricing isn’t about finding the perfect number. It’s about making a clear, intentional decision that you can stand behind.
Early on, pricing is feedback. Treat it as a learning tool—not a verdict on your value.
Once you understand the fundamentals, pricing stops being just a calculation and starts becoming a strategic signal. That’s where pricing turns into positioning—something we explore in depth next.
Read next: Pricing as Positioning: How Solopreneurs and Coaches Use Price to Signal Value
If This Resonated
Many of the ideas in this article—pricing as experimentation, pricing as positioning, and building momentum through clarity—are available to explore, refine, and create action plans as part of FocusedSpark.
Ava, FocusedSpark’s proactive partner, is designed to help solopreneurs think through decisions like these early on—by exploring different options, pressure-testing assumptions, and creating tailored plans and actions that you can use.
FocusedSpark isn’t open for registration yet. If you’re interested in exploring how a tailored platform for solopreneurs can help you clarify decisions, build confidence, and maintain business momentum, you can register your interest below. We’ll reach out as we open more spots.
