Raising your prices
Most solo operators are underpriced, know it, and raise prices by an amount too small to matter.
The three signs, and all three together is close to conclusive: the calendar is always full, nobody ever objects to a quote, and you would rather not work out what the work actually pays per hour.
The arithmetic that makes this easy. Say you do 20 jobs a month at $150, so $3,000. Raise to $170 and you need 17.6 jobs to make the same money. You can lose two and a half customers out of twenty and be no worse off, while doing three fewer jobs, driving less, and having more time.
That is the whole decision, and it is why a 3 percent rise is the worst available option: it costs you the awkward conversation and changes nothing.
Notice, do not apologise, and hold the price when someone pushes back. A discount given the moment someone objects teaches every customer that your price is an opening offer.
And the part nobody says: raising prices loses the wrong customers first. The ones who leave are disproportionately the lowest-margin and highest-effort. That is the outcome you wanted and were afraid to ask for.
Working out the number
Start from cost, not from what the person down the road charges.
Per job, count: your time at a rate you would accept, the drive at your working rate plus the miles, products and consumables, the share of insurance, phone, software and equipment that the job carries, and the unbillable hours — quoting, chasing, admin — that every job actually consumes.
Then look at what you charge. The gap between the two is usually larger than expected, because the unbillable time and the driving are the parts nobody counts. The pricing calculator. · Service area and travel fees.
Then check the market, not to match it, but to know where you are standing. Being at the top of a local range is a position, and it is a defensible one if the work supports it.
How much
If you have not raised in over a year: 10 to 20 percent is common and rarely produces the reaction people expect.
If you are always full: you are already above the market's willingness to pay at your current price, and the calendar is telling you so.
If you are turning work away: raise until you stop. A permanently full calendar at a low price is the most expensive possible situation, because it looks like success and there is no room in it to fix anything.
Round up. $170, not $167.50. Precise numbers invite negotiation by suggesting they were calculated and can be recalculated.
The message
Short. Factual. No apology, no long justification.
Hi [name], a heads-up that from 1 October my standard clean goes to $170. Nothing changes about the service, and your Tuesday slot stays as it is. Happy to answer anything.
Three things it does: gives a date, states the number plainly, and confirms the thing they actually care about, which is usually their slot rather than the price.
What not to include: an explanation of your costs, an apology, "I know this is a lot," or any suggestion that it is negotiable. Every word of justification invites a counter-offer, and a price that requires a paragraph to defend reads as one that was made up.
Doing it in order
New customers first. From today, quote the new price. Zero risk, immediate effect, and it tells you the market's answer before you touch anyone existing.
Then recurring and plan customers, with three to four weeks of notice. These are your best customers and they are the ones the fear is about. In practice they are also the least likely to leave, because they have already chosen you repeatedly.
Do not run two price lists indefinitely. If you keep grandfathered pricing forever, the customers who have been with you longest end up paying the least, which is exactly backwards, and it gets harder to correct every year.
When someone objects
Most objections are a message, not a departure. Expect a handful, and answer them the same way each time:
I understand. The new price reflects what the job takes. Your slot is there if you want it.
Then stop typing. No discount, no counter-offer, no explaining again.
If someone leaves, the arithmetic already told you how many you could afford to lose. Compare who actually left against that number before concluding anything, because the memory of one departure is louder than the fact of nineteen who stayed.
What usually happens
Fewer leave than expected. People are more price-tolerant with a service they already trust than operators assume.
The ones who leave are the wrong ones to keep. The heaviest negotiators, the latest payers, the furthest away, the ones who want a full detail at wash prices.
Your month improves twice. Once from the price, once from the space, and the space is what lets you take the better-paying work you have been turning away.
Is your diary full but your month bad? · Why you are underquoting. · Quoting fast without underpricing. · Maintenance plan pricing.
What Rigsheet does about it
Package prices, size modifiers and add-ons live in one place, so a rise is a change to the packages rather than an edit made twelve times in twelve quotes. Quotes render from those packages with vehicle or home size applied automatically, so the new price reaches every quote from the moment you change it.
And the reason the pricing tools on this site are free and need no account: the arithmetic above is useful whether or not you ever install anything. What each plan includes.
More in this section
About Rigsheet
Rigsheet is a job app from Baker Ventures LLC for one-to-three-person mobile service businesses: mobile auto detailers and residential cleaners first. Scheduling with drive-time gaps, quotes with vehicle and home-size pricing, deposits, "on my way" texts, before and after photos, invoices, and automated review requests. Plans start at $4 a month, with unlimited jobs, customers, quotes and invoices on every tier and no per-user fees.
It exists because the alternatives charge a solo operator team prices. A one-van business is not a small version of a ten-truck business, and pricing built around seats and add-ons makes that mistake expensive. The pricing calculators and operator guides on this site are free and need no account.
Questions and answers
How do you raise prices without losing customers?
Give notice, apply it to new bookings first, and do not apologise. Most operators lose fewer customers than they fear, and the ones they lose are disproportionately the lowest-margin and highest-effort, which is the outcome they wanted and were afraid to ask for.
How much can you raise prices at once?
Enough to matter. A 3 percent rise costs you the awkward conversation and changes nothing, so it is the worst option available. Ten to twenty percent is common for someone who has not raised in a year or more, and the right number comes from your own costs and your booking rate.
How much notice should you give existing customers?
For one-off customers, none is needed beyond quoting the new price. For recurring and plan customers, three to four weeks and a short message is normal and sufficient.
What if a customer objects?
Some will, and most objections are a single message rather than a departure. Hold the price. A discount given the moment someone pushes back teaches every customer that your price is an opening offer.
How do you know you are underpriced?
A booking calendar that is always full, no price objections at all, and a genuine reluctance to check what the work pays per hour. All three at once is close to conclusive.
Should you raise prices for everyone at the same time?
New customers first is the low-risk route, and running two price lists indefinitely means the customers who have been with you longest pay the least, which is the wrong shape and gets harder to fix each year.
Rigsheet. “Raising your prices.” Baker Ventures LLC, September 7, 2026. https://rigsheet.bakerventuresstudio.com/guides/how-to-raise-your-prices/