I couldn't wait my son to grow up to tell him this story
15 Feb 2019Being a new dad and I started to subscribe to more dad/parentship question on Quora, today this story was really standing out:
What is the best piece of advice you ever received to earn more money?
I just gave this lesson to my 10-year-old son.
“Dad, to make money I will be walking our neighbors’ dogs. How much should I charge?”
“How much do you want to make?” I asked.
“I think I could charge $3 dollars per hour.”
“Is that all you want to make? Only $3 dollars per hour?”
“No!” he interrupted, “I would love to make $20 dollars, but how could I do that? Do you think people will pay me $20?”
I started to work on his mindset:
“What are you selling, Son?”
He stopped staring at me thinking, “I’m not selling anything, Dad. What do you mean?”
“Okay,” I said, “pretend I’m your customer. Sell to me.”
He ran quickly to the computer and printed out a brochure he created that said:
I WALK YOUR DOG $3 PER HOUR. CALL ME.
“Here, Dad,” giving me the brochure, “will you hire me to walk your dog?”
“Listen, son, you are selling your time and that is wrong! Stop thinking like that and start selling me benefits. Try again!”
“I don’t understand!”
“What are the benefits I will get if you walk my dog? Sell me those!”
“Well, when I walk your dog, he will exercise, I will play with him and he will be happy.”
“I don’t care about those! I can also walk my dog and play with him. Now, try harder. What valuable things can you do during that same hour with my dog?”
“I could train him tricks and I could give him a bath.”
“YES!” I said excited, “how much would you charge for a bath?”
“I could not only walk the dogs, I could also bathe them and teach them tricks!”
“How much time will it take to bathe a dog?” I asked.
“Oh, I could do that in about 15 minutes!”
“So you will be making much more for the same hour, correct?”
“Yes, Dad… I get it, thanks!” he replied as he ran to the computer to modify his brochure.
New problem: He’s only charging $3 dollars for a bath… haha!
He needs to feel the pain of hard work; then I will teach him how to better price his delivered value :)
To answer your question: What’s the best advice you’ve received to make more money?
There’s only one way to make more money. Start charging for delivered value, not for your time.
This demands a new mindset. I challenge you to think:
What benefits are your employer or your customers receiving with your work?
Negotiate and sell the value you deliver.