Next come the dollars that pay for your health insurance and other expenses. There are times when discounting can make sense - when you're trying to break into a new market or preempt a competitor, when you're doing a favor for a community organization. But discounting is also a formula for bottom fishing. Reminding yourself every time you bid a job that profits are the last dollars earned will make it easier to quote a profitable price, and result in a healthier margin at the end of the year. Now to my second truism.
Businesses have at least two options for competing to win customers.
One is low price, which is how commodities compete because there is no other differentiating characteristic. The other is superior performance, like higher quality, faster service, more effective methods or some other attribute that is of greater value to the client than what competitors offer. My second truism about pricing is that consulting is not a commodity. There are vast differences from one consultant to another. Don't assume you need to compete on the basis of price.