Pricing Strategy Calculator

# Pricing Strategy Calculator

Set your pricing using cost-plus, value-based, and competitive analysis methods.

## When to Use

- "How much should I charge for {service}?"
- "Help me figure out my freelance rate"
- "What's the right pricing for my product?"

## Requirements

- **Brave Search MCP** for market rate research
- **python3** for financial calculations

## Workflow

### Step 1 — Pricing Context

- **What you sell** (service, product, SaaS)
- **Target market** (enterprise, SMB, consumer, freelance clients)
- **Current pricing** (if any)
- **Annual income goal**
- **Monthly expenses** (business + personal if freelancer)
- **Billable hours per week** (realistic — not 40)

### Step 2 — Research Market Rates

```
brave_web_search: "{SERVICE_TYPE} freelance rates {YEAR}"
brave_web_search: "{SERVICE_TYPE} pricing survey {YEAR}"
brave_web_search: "{SERVICE_TYPE} average hourly rate {COUNTRY}"
brave_web_search: "{INDUSTRY} SaaS pricing benchmarks {YEAR}"
```

### Step 3 — Calculate Using Three Methods

```bash
python3 << 'PYEOF'
# === METHOD 1: Cost-Plus (Bottom-Up) ===
annual_income_goal = {INCOME_GOAL}
monthly_business_expenses = {BIZ_EXPENSES}
tax_rate = {TAX_RATE}  # e.g., 0.30
billable_hours_per_week = {BILLABLE_HOURS}  # realistic: 25-30
weeks_per_year = 48  # accounting for vacation

total_costs = annual_income_goal + (monthly_business_expenses * 12)
pre_tax_needed = total_costs / (1 - tax_rate)
total_billable_hours = billable_hours_per_week * weeks_per_year
min_hourly_rate = pre_tax_needed / total_billable_hours

print("=== Method 1: Cost-Plus (Minimum Rate) ===")
print(f"Annual income goal: ${annual_income_goal:,.0f}")
print(f"Business expenses: ${monthly_business_expenses * 12:,.0f}/yr")
print(f"Pre-tax needed: ${pre_tax_needed:,.0f}")
print(f"Billable hours: {total_billable_hours}/yr")
print(f"Minimum hourly rate: ${min_hourly_rate:,.0f}/hr")
print(f"Minimum day rate: ${min_hourly_rate * 8:,.0f}/day")
print()

# === METHOD 2: Market-Based ===
market_low = {MARKET_LOW}
market_mid = {MARKET_MID}
market_high = {MARKET_HIGH}

print("=== Method 2: Market-Based ===")
print(f"Market range: ${market_low}/hr — ${market_high}/hr")
print(f"Market median: ${market_mid}/hr")
print(f"Your position: {'Below' if min_hourly_rate < market_mid else 'Above'} median")
print()

# === METHOD 3: Value-Based ===
client_value = {VALUE_TO_CLIENT}  # estimated value you create for client
value_rate = client_value * 0.10  # capture 10-20% of value created

print("=== Method 3: Value-Based ===")
print(f"Value created for client: ${client_value:,.0f}")
print(f"Value-based rate (10%): ${value_rate:,.0f}/project")
print(f"Value-based rate (20%): ${client_value * 0.20:,.0f}/project")
print()

# === RECOMMENDATION ===
recommended = max(min_hourly_rate, market_mid)
print("=== Recommended Rate ===")
print(f"Hourly: ${recommended:,.0f}/hr")
print(f"Day rate: ${recommended * 8:,.0f}/day")
print(f"Weekly: ${recommended * billable_hours_per_week:,.0f}/week")
print(f"Monthly retainer (80hr): ${recommended * 80:,.0f}/mo")
print(f"Annual revenue potential: ${recommended * total_billable_hours:,.0f}")
PYEOF
```

### Step 4 — Breakeven Analysis

```bash
python3 << 'PYEOF'
fixed_costs = {MONTHLY_FIXED}  # rent, tools, subscriptions
rate = {RECOMMENDED_RATE}

breakeven_hours = fixed_costs / rate
print(f"Monthly fixed costs: ${fixed_costs:,.0f}")
print(f"Rate: ${rate}/hr")
print(f"Breakeven: {breakeven_hours:.1f} hours/month")
print(f"Breakeven: {breakeven_hours / 4:.1f} hours/week")
print(f"That's {breakeven_hours / (4 * 8) * 100:.0f}% of a full work week")
PYEOF
```

### Step 5 — Pricing Summary

```markdown
## Your Pricing Strategy

| Method | Rate | Basis |
|--------|------|-------|
| Cost-Plus (minimum) | ${X}/hr | Covers expenses + income goal |
| Market Rate | ${X}/hr | Industry median |
| Value-Based | ${X}/project | Based on client ROI |
| **Recommended** | **${X}/hr** | **{Rationale}** |

### Rate Card
| Service | Rate |
|---------|------|
| Hourly | ${X}/hr |
| Day rate | ${X}/day |
| Weekly retainer | ${X}/week |
| Monthly retainer | ${X}/mo (discounted) |
| Project minimum | ${X} |

### When to Charge More
- Rush work (< 48hr turnaround): +50%
- Enterprise clients: +25-50%
- Specialized expertise needed
- High-value outcomes

### When to Discount
- Long-term retainers (10-15% discount)
- Referral clients (5-10%)
- Portfolio/case study permission
```

## Important Rules

- Cost-plus is your FLOOR — never go below it
- Market rates are a reference, not a ceiling
- Value-based pricing works best for experienced professionals
- Include taxes in calculations — gross != net
- Revisit pricing quarterly as skills and demand change

## Example Prompts

- "How much should I charge as a freelance web developer?"
- "Help me set pricing for my consulting business"
- "I want to raise my rates — what should I charge?"