By Fred Martel

Business is not driven by price alone. Those who strive to be the lowest price walk a fine line between success and failure.

The problems many businesses have cannot be cured with a rigid pricing program. Profits come from a discipline of good business practices which include: proper hiring practices, continuous training, proper supervision, managing overhead and, of course, proper pricing standards.

A good business plan also includes a marketing strategy – a blueprint you follow to get the most good publicity and exposure from your every move. This factor is widely overlooked in all levels of business in our industry, from contracting to wholesale to manufacturing.

Let’s define the marketing function before we get to the core problem. Your ideal goal is to get each and every customer to get excited about the job your company performed for them. How, you may ask, does that happen? The answer is perceived value, i.e. customers get more than they expected for the price! Herein lies the problem with pre-packaged cures business plans that offer cures for your low profit margins. They do not take into account the marketing factor. It’s okay to charge crazy high prices, as long as you can show value for the price!