Doula Business Advisor: How to Set Your Rates

For doulas opening a birth or postpartum doula business, an important early decision in setting up your business is “how much should I charge?” The answer is based on the composite answer to the following questions.

1. What are your expenses? (see February 15 blog)

2. What are similar businesses charging? (see last week’s blog)

3. What are clients willing and able to pay?

You should get a sense about the answer to this question in your conversations with other doulas in your community. However, some of it will be trial and error. If you set your fee too high, you may find that you are losing potential customers to doulas who are charging significantly less. On the other hand, if you purposely underbid all the other local doulas, consider the message you are sending. Being the cheapest doula (or electrician, hair stylist, massage therapist, etc.) in town does not necessarily inspire confidence in the consumer. Perhaps there is some ambivalence on your part regarding your value? Are you sending a message that the service itself is not worthy of more? The psychology of price setting is such that you want to try to hit it just right—professional fees for a professional service, with the potential for raising fees as you grow in experience and reputation.

If you live in an area where there are no other doulas practicing, then it may be advisable to start nearer the lower end of the pay scale as you build up your business and local word of mouth about the value of your services. Focus your efforts on education and marketing to get the word out. How much money do you need to make per client, as a bottom line? This final question will lead you to settle on a fee.

Remember that building a practice takes time, and it will always be a work in process. You can change your mind and your fees at any point in time. At a minimum, be sure that you are covering your out-of-pocket expenses. If you are at a break-even point, then the work you are doing is volunteer work. If you are working at a loss, then you are making a charitable donation. If your intent is to be in business, to earn an income,
then you must make enough money per client both to cover your expenses and to pay yourself. Only you can decide how much this needs to be, as it will likely be dictated by overall family income and needs.

The Doula Business Advisor blog is designed to support the establishment and long-term sustainability of private doula businesses. Patty Brennan is the author of The Doula Business Guide: Creating a Successful MotherBaby Business.

Posted by Patty Brennan on March 1, 2011 • Filed under Doula Business Advisor
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