A launch offer always sounds like a smart move at first. It’s exciting, you’re a new business owner, and you just want to build a safety net. And a lot of startups are going about it this way, too. Plus, it gives people a reason to try something new, and it makes a brand look confident, like, “Yeah, sure, this is worth buying, so here’s a little incentive.” And for a startup, that early momentum can feel addictive, because enquiries start coming in, sales notifications pop up, and it finally feels like the thing is real.
But with all of that said here, there’s a very common problem that shows up right after the initial buzz, but what exactly? Well, it’s when sales are happening, but the bank balance doesn’t look how it should, or time is getting eaten alive, but the money coming in doesn’t match the effort going out. And that’s usually when a launch offer is quietly losing money to hidden startup costs, even if it looks successful on the surface.
Intro Discounts Can Turn into a Permanent Pay Cut
Okay, so intro discounts are the classic ones. What does that mean? Well, it’s something like “Twenty percent off for the first month,” “first booking reduced,” “launch week deal,” all that stuff. Now, yeah, by all means, here, it can work, because people love feeling like they got in early. Basically, everyone is guilty of that. The issue is that startups often set discounts based on what sounds appealing, not what the margins can handle. That discount might wipe out the profit entirely once costs are included.
Oh, and even worse, it can attract customers who only care about the discount. They buy once, then disappear the second pricing goes back to normal, which means the business did all that work for a low-margin customer who was never sticking around anyway. Yes, people do that all the time, maybe yoyúre just as guilty of that! But generally speaking here, discounts aren’t a bad thing, but you can’t toss them out left and right. Actually, before giving out discounts, it could help to get business accounting support so the math adds up (rather than you lose money).
Are Your Bundles Too Generous?
Well, bundles are another one, well, it’s the whole “this seems like a great deal” for example bundle three services together, knock a bit off the price, and it sounds like an easy upsell. Okay, but except bundles have hidden startup costs and can hide the real cost of delivery. A bundle often increases workload faster than it increases revenue. A lot of people forget about that, and that means extra time you have to work, more admin, follow-up, materials, you get the idea.
There’s Lots of Hidden Costs You Might Not Realise
A launch offer can also lose money because of all the hidden startup costs that aren’t obvious when building it. But in what way, though? Well, it could be payment processing fees, maybe packaging and postage, usually software subscriptions (a major one), ad spend counts too, and so do refunds. Well, this is a small list, but it goes on and on. And yeah, labour is a cost too, even if it’s the founder doing it. Basically, you might be undercharging.
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