There are things I am exceptionally good at that I would happily never do again. Decades of experience have made me remarkably proficient at certain kinds of work, and I have absolutely no desire to spend my days doing them. Unfortunately, competence has a way of attracting invitations. People discover that you know how to do something, particularly something complicated that other people would rather avoid, and suddenly they’re standing at your door with a project and a hopeful expression.
I understand why they’re asking. I also understand exactly how much I don’t want to say yes.
So I’ve developed a rather delightful pricing strategy. When someone approaches me about work I know I can do beautifully but would prefer to leave in my professional rearview mirror, I quote 3x my usual fee.
Three times.
I call it the vibe upcharge.
The mathematics are exquisite. If they decline, I get to carry on with my life, doing work I actually enjoy. If they accept, the compensation is sufficiently generous that the project becomes considerably more appealing. Either way, I’ve created an outcome I can live with. There’s something wonderfully liberating about sending a proposal and being genuinely pleased with either answer.
I suspect you already know what in your business deserves its own special pricing category. You probably thought of it before I finished explaining mine.
And before anyone clutches their pearls over the audacity of charging more for work I enjoy less, I’d like to point out that nobody is being held hostage by my proposal. They are perfectly free to decline, and I am perfectly free to enjoy the rest of my afternoon.
Consent. What a concept.
Should they accept, they get every ounce of expertise and professionalism they’ve paid for. I will do the work beautifully, honor our agreements, and bring the same commitment to excellence I bring to every engagement. The premium makes me genuinely happy to take on work I would otherwise decline.
The funny thing about the vibe upcharge is that it requires me to be exceptionally clear about what I actually want to do.
So when someone comes along wanting to resurrect one of those skills, I get to decide whether I’m interested in dusting it off. And if I am, what would make that exchange feel absolutely delicious?
Sometimes the answer is three times my usual fee. Sometimes the answer is a gracious decline. And sometimes the answer is, “Who gave you my number?”
Because the real luxury of running your own business is getting to decide what kind of business you want to run.
Your professional history is full of capabilities you’ve developed, and some of them may belong to an earlier version of the business you’re building. You can appreciate what those skills have made possible while becoming increasingly selective about when and how you use them.
Some work makes us come alive. Other work makes us stare at our calendars and wonder what series of questionable decisions led us to this particular Tuesday. And somewhere in the middle, there’s work we’d be perfectly delighted to do for three times the usual fee.
But let’s establish one very important distinction before anyone gets carried away with their calculator.
There are people who don’t get a proposal at all.
No amount of money will convince me to work with someone whose values fundamentally conflict with mine. Racists, bigots, and assholes need not apply. There is no platinum-tier package that includes permission to be a terrible human being.
My vibe upcharge is for work I’d rather avoid, offered by people I’m perfectly happy to work with. My values are not available for purchase, regardless of how many zeros someone is prepared to put on the check.
Now, I can already hear someone saying, “That’s lovely for you, but I have bills to pay. I can’t afford to turn down work.”
Fair. And I want to honor that reality.
Having a financially stable business makes it considerably easier to decline opportunities that don’t fit. When your rent, payroll, and other obligations are covered, you have more room to make decisions based on preference and alignment. Financial reserves create breathing room, and I will never pretend that breathing room is equally available to everyone.
If you’re wondering how you’re going to cover next month’s expenses, I understand why an imperfect opportunity might look considerably more attractive than an empty calendar. Sometimes accepting that work is a sound financial decision. Sometimes it’s the decision that keeps the lights on while you build something better.
But there’s another calculation I want you to consider, especially if you’ve been telling yourself you can’t afford to say no.
Every time you say yes to something, you’re also saying no to something else.
And some of those noes are spectacularly expensive.
Every project occupies space on your calendar, in your attention, and in your capacity to serve. Every client who requires three times the energy you’re being compensated for is consuming resources that could be directed elsewhere.
What happens when the opportunity you’ve been hoping for finally arrives, and your calendar is already full of work you wish you’d never accepted?
Or perhaps the right opportunity hasn’t arrived because you’ve been too busy fulfilling those commitments to create it.
You’ve postponed following up with someone who expressed interest in working with you. The offer you’ve been excited to launch remains a collection of notes. You haven’t reached out to the potential collaborator, nurtured the referral relationship, or made the ask because you’ve spent the entire week putting out fires for a client whose monthly fee barely covers the cost of the matches.
And there you are, fully booked, exhausted, and wondering why your business isn’t growing.
That is an expensive yes.
I want you to consider a question that might rearrange a few things: What are you unavailable for because of everything you’ve already agreed to?
Your calendar, your capacity, and your cash flow are telling a story about the business you’re building. Do you like where that story is going?
If that question stirred something in you, let’s talk. On a complimentary Prosperity Breakthrough Call, we’ll look at what your commitments are costing you and what becomes possible when you reclaim that capacity.
Maybe it’s the client who would be thrilled to pay your full rate. Maybe it’s the new offer you’ve been talking about for six months. Maybe it’s an afternoon with your family, a proper vacation, or simply the ability to finish your workday without wanting to launch your laptop into the nearest body of water.
You may discover that the work you’re afraid to release is occupying the very capacity you need to create a more profitable, enjoyable business.
You can begin creating room deliberately. Review your existing commitments and what they’re actually costing you. Raise your rates where the exchange no longer makes sense. Protect a few hours each week for the relationships, offers, and opportunities that could change your business. Build reserves so that the next time something feels wrong, your bank account can participate in the conversation without having a complete nervous breakdown.
And if you need to keep an imperfect engagement for now, you can make that a conscious, temporary choice with a plan for what comes next. There’s no shame in honoring your financial obligations while you build the capacity for greater freedom.
The point is to become increasingly intentional about what receives your yes.
I want you to have a business where profitability creates possibilities, where your expertise is compensated appropriately, and where the people you work with are people you’re genuinely pleased to see on your calendar. I want you to have enough financial breathing room to recognize a wonderful opportunity and enough available capacity to accept it.
And I want you to remember that being exceptionally good at something doesn’t obligate you to spend the rest of your life doing it.
You get to evolve. Your business gets to evolve. Your pricing gets to reflect the person you’ve become and the life you’re consciously creating.
So the next time someone approaches you with a project you’re spectacularly qualified to deliver and completely disinterested in doing, consider what would make the exchange genuinely worthwhile.
Maybe the answer is three times your usual fee. Maybe the answer is a gracious decline. And maybe, just maybe, the most profitable thing you can do is leave a little room on your calendar for something you haven’t even imagined yet.
As for me, I’ll continue quoting my outrageous premium when the occasion calls for it. If they say yes, I’ll do the work beautifully, collect my fee, and enjoy every delicious dollar of the exchange. If they say no, I’ll be equally delighted.
There’s a certain freedom in being genuinely pleased with either answer.
And darling, that’s a vibe worth cultivating.
The business you actually want doesn’t build itself while you’re finishing projects you wish you’d declined six months ago.
If you’re ready to look at your pricing, your clients, and your capacity with fresh eyes, let’s talk. Book a complimentary Prosperity Breakthrough Call and we’ll explore how to build a more profitable business that supports the life you actually want.
P.S. Profit is Protest, and every dollar of genuine surplus expands your freedom to decide what deserves your time, talent, and energy.
P.P.S. Before anyone goes firing clients and waiting for the universe to deliver a replacement by express shipping, please remember that I love a good plan, followed by the ever important “or better” and then reverse engineering the cash flow to get there..
I’m feral, not financially reckless.
You had me at 3x 😂