“I’m getting paid what I’m worth!” Find out how CV writer Laura Harmsworth found Double Your Profits
Just over two years ago, Laura Harmsworth joined an early version of Double Your Profits. Laura was a CV writer, and was looking to earn more money.
In our initial call, Laura told me that her aim was to earn more from her business, Caversham CV Writing, but keep her earnings below the tax threshold. I challenged her that if I helped her earn enough over the tax threshold to warrant the pain of the paperwork and paying tax, would she be happy? She said she would, so we set that as a goal.
One of the first things I did with Laura was to work on her pricing and packages. And this one shift completely changed Laura’s business. She was working the same hours but earning much more money – her profits increased by 43% in just six months. And she was attracting higher quality clients too.
Laura was initially nervous about increasing her prices, but the process we used to research her new rates was thorough, and she didn’t lose a single client.
In fact, since Laura first changed her pricing she’s raised her rates twice more (I recommend increasing them by a small amount each year) and has remained fully booked almost every month.
I recently interviewed Laura to find out what she thought about her experience on Double Your Profits – our 12-week transformational online business programme – and what she recommends for other small business owners like her. Here’s what she said.
What made you think that you needed help when you applied to Double Your Profits?
I didn’t really think I needed help. But I did, I just didn’t realise at the time!
In December 2017 my business partner left the business, and I had been struggling to work by myself. I was lacking in a bit of confidence in my business, and wasn’t actively doing anything to properly market it. If people called or emailed I would do the work, and that was it.
Then I saw an advert for the Talented Ladies Club course, and it was just like it was fate! I thought, “This is just what I need”. I needed to inject a bit more energy back into what I was doing, give me a bit more competence, a bit of direction.
If you hadn’t joined the course, what do you think would have happened with your business?
Nothing. I think it would be the same as it was. I would have carried on putting in the hours, and not earning very much. My business would just have drifted.
Or worse: if I hadn’t got the confidence and direction from working with Hannah, I’m not even sure I’d still be doing it. I think I might have given up and just thought about finding a job again, which isn’t what I want.
Did you have any reservations about joining anything about it made you nervous about signing up?
The cost, because it was quite a big investment for me at the time. But having followed Talented Ladies Club for a while, I knew the quality was going to be good.
I’d already done a couple of Hannah’s courses so I knew that she knew what she was talking about. And then we had a one to one, and that really stuck with me because we spent quite a lot of time talking about my business. Hannah came up with some really good ideas, both quick fixes and ideas for longer term fixes that I knew would really help me.
I remember coming off that call almost crying, thinking this is so exciting, I feel really excited about my business again. And I really wanted to start right then! I wanted to start that day.
Hannah even gave me a couple of actions that I could start doing immediately. It gave me confidence in the course, and I felt really excited about everything again.
What was your experience of being on the programme like?
It was brilliant; I loved every aspect of it. It was hard work. And there’s a lot of work. Hannah is not a taskmaster but she set really good homework to do every week, and the calls were amazing.
It was also really good having other people with really diverse businesses on the calls. Our businesses may have been really different but we had a lot of similar problems. And just hearing about how other people are dealing with things was useful.
I also really valued the support in terms of Facebook, emails, I just felt like I always had someone that I could speak to whenever I had a query about business or question about the homework that we were set.
There was a fair bit of work but it was manageable. And you got out of the course what you put in. The modules contained everything we needed and broke the process down into easy to follow steps.
At the end of every module, I would go back and see what I’d achieved, and I still do that now every month. It just shows that all the steps work.
What made the biggest difference to your business?
Pricing made a massive difference. When we first spoke, Hannah was quite shocked at my prices. And when we actually worked out how much I earned, it was less than the minimum wage.
I would never, ever have changed my prices without Hannah giving me the confidence to do so, and without the rationale behind why those prices needed to be what they were.
We put so much work into working out what were good prices, and no one has ever queried them.
I haven’t put more hours into my business, but now I’m getting paid what I’m worth. That’s made a massive difference to me. I also don’t resent anything now because I feel like I’m getting paid well for what I do.
How did the course help you?
I changed everything in my business. I updated the website, I changed all the copy of all my communications and started using LinkedIn. I also introduced five new services, which enabled me to appeal to a wider range of people – I would never even have thought about that.
I’ve also created Facebook ads, written terms and conditions, written articles, run webinars, done Facebook Lives… I’d never have done this without the course.
The course didn’t just increase my business, it built me as a person as well. I feel so much more confident and I think everything I do is the next level now.
Who do you think Double Your Profits would be good for?
People like me. Anyone who has been running their business for a while, but feels that they aren’t getting out of their business what they want in terms of money, satisfaction and joy.
And someone who just set their prices without really thinking about what they should be. Because I didn’t really work my prices out properly before I worked with Hannah. I did a little bit of market research, but not to the extent that we did on the course.
And who do you think shouldn’t do it?
People who don’t want to put the work in. I got so much out of working with Hannah in the course, but I put a lot of work in. And I think you haven’t got the time or the inclination to do that then it’s not worth it.
What would you say to someone who was thinking about joining?
If you’re thinking about joining the course, I would just do it. Have faith in the course, and faith in Hannah because she’s so knowledgeable and everything she said was always backed up with good stories and examples and really bought what she was saying to life and made me believe that it would make a difference.
If I was talking to myself two years ago, I say have no hesitation. It’s absolutely amazing and you’ll get so much out of it.
Love to find out what Double Your Profits can do for YOUR business? Find out more here.
