Andrea Pohlsander

After getting laid off in February, I started Prairie Bookkeeping. Here's what my first year as a small business owner taught me about gratitude and growth.

As Thanksgiving approaches, we're naturally thinking about gratitude and giving back. For many women business owners, this often translates into generous pricing—adjusting rates based on what clients can afford, offering discounts without being asked, or hesitating to raise prices even when you know your expertise has grown. This practice, commonly called "empathy pricing," feels noble. But here's what research reveals: empathy pricing might be the least generous thing you can do.

According to recent research, most service providers are missing opportunities to charge for the full value they deliver, with 57% of agencies losing significant monthly revenue to unbilled scope creep, while 30% experience even greater losses. Perhaps the most surprising statistic is that only 1% of agencies can successfully bill for all out-of-scope work. Understanding the story your data tells can reveal exactly how much value you're giving away for free—and what you can do about it.