Price based on outcome — not on being the cheapest

Don't price based on trying to be as competitive as possible. Sell the outcome. Sell the fact that the client is going to get a good job, done properly, with the details handled — the clearances, the reveals, the finish, the install. That's where the money is, and that's the only kind of work worth chasing.

If you price as a low-cost operation, your client pool becomes the kind that only chases the cheapest number. That's a race to the bottom. There's absolutely a market for cheap — and the shops serving it are not executing the job the way you are. They're not worrying about reveals, clearances, or details. So why would you price the same way they do? Why would you compete against them at all? You get out of that race by pricing properly and differentiating yourself on the result.

You don't have to win every job. I don't mind losing jobs — I'm genuinely happy to lose some, because it means those people were never my clients to begin with, and I'm not getting stuck in that pool. A client who picks the job based purely on price is going to keep being a price-only client through every touchpoint afterwards: change orders, service calls, the final payment. One price-shopper leads to another price-shopper.

The flip side: when you put yourself in front of clients who want a certain result, price stops being the deciding factor. You still have to be competitive — you don't have a brand name yet that clients are paying a premium for — but they want quality, and they'll pay fairly for it. Be in that quality market. It's a little more work, but it's the market that actually pays.

• Price-shopper pool: race to the bottom, thin margins, every touchpoint is a fight over money, referrals are more of the same.
• Outcome-driven pool: fewer jobs, healthier margins, clients who value the details, referrals from people who actually appreciate the work.

You can do fewer jobs and make the same money — if not more. And that changes everything else: now you have time for marketing, time to think about the shop, time to be home. You're not putting stress on your family life. Price the job at a rate you're actually profitable at. If you win it, you win it. If you don't, that job wasn't for you. And if you can't win the jobs at a profitable rate, why are you doing them at all? Why are we working for no profit — or the same rate as working for somebody else — while taking all the risk, doing all the chasing, and waiting to get paid last?

That last part is the kicker: we wait to get paid last, and it's our own fault. We're cabinet makers who got forced into a business operational role and never made the switch in our heads. Be a business owner first, cabinet maker second. That's the biggest favor you'll ever do for yourself.