Hey Reader,
Last week we talked about cutting products that don’t pay for your time.
This week: Why I raised my prices and stopped apologizing for them.
For two years, I sold beef at $6/lb.
Bacon was $8/lb.
And I was losing money.
Not because my quality was bad – our beef and pork were incredible. Pasture-raised, moved daily, regenerating soil, the way we felt was right for the animals and the land.
I was losing money because I was scared.
Scared that if I raised prices, customers would leave.
Scared they’d balk at the new numbers.
Scared they’d think I was ripping them off.
Scared I’d lose everything I’d built.
So I kept my prices low and told myself “once we get more customers, the math will work.”
Spoiler: It didn’t.
Here’s what finally changed:
I sat down and actually did the math on what it cost to raise our animals.
Feed. Hay. Shavings. Processing. My TIME moving animals every single day. The land. The infrastructure. The investment.
And I realized: I can’t stay in business at these prices.
It wasn’t even a choice anymore. It was raise prices or become a homesteader at a much smaller scale..
So I made the decision: Beef was going to $8.95/lb. Bacon was going to $12.95/lb.
That’s a 49% increase on ground beef and a 62% increase on bacon.
I was terrified.
But here’s what I did instead of just jacking up prices overnight:
I sent an email to our customer list.
I explained what was changing and why. I didn’t blame the economy or tariffs or feed costs. I just told the truth:
“We need to be profitable to be viable. If we’re not viable, we’re out of business. And if we’re out of business, we can’t serve you.“
Then I gave them 4 weeks notice – what I called a “price freeze.”
Not as a gimmick to get people to stock up (though some did). But mainly so it wasn’t a surprise. So they had time to prepare.
Then I held my breath and hit send.
You know how many customers complained?
Zero.
You know how many left?
Zero that I’m aware of.
Same customers kept buying at the new prices like nothing changed.
In fact, some of them respected us MORE for being transparent about it.
Here’s what I learned:
The customers who care about quality don’t leave over price.
The customers who want the cheapest option were never your customers anyway.
And your job isn’t to be the cheapest farm – your job is to be a PROFITABLE farm that can stay in business long enough to keep serving the people who value what you do.
Our products are premium now. Not because we got fancy. But because we stopped pretending that pasture-raised, labor-intensive, attention-to-detail farming should cost the same as factory meat or grocery store offerings.
More time. More labor. More land. More attention = Better product = Premium price.
No apologies. No justifications. No “sorry but we had to raise prices because…”
Just: This is what it costs. This is what you get. This is the value.
And our customers get it.
Your homework this week:
If you’re just starting out: Calculate what you ACTUALLY need to charge to make this worth your time. Add up feed + processing + your time (at minimum $25/hour) + a profit margin. That’s your floor. Anything less and you’re paying to work.
If you’re established and selling: Pick one product you know you’re undercharging for. Raise it 20% next month. Send your customers an email 4 weeks out letting them know. Be honest. Be transparent. Then watch what happens.
Spoiler: Probably nothing bad.
The customers who value what you do will keep buying. The ones who don’t? They weren’t going to stick around anyway.
Next Sunday: Why I built systems so I stopped wasting time on admin chaos (and how it changed everything).
Talk soon,
Jason
P.S. Once you raise your prices, you need to LOOK like a premium business. That means professional ordering systems, not Facebook DMs at 11pm. I build WordPress websites for farmers that make ordering easy and automatic – your customers can browse, order, and pay 24/7 while you’re doing literally anything else. Fill out this 5-minute questionnaire and I’ll send you a custom plan in 24 hours. Free, no obligation.
with my appreciation,
Jason
Aka: The Part-Time Farmer
Your Farm Website Shouldn’t Feel Like a Second Job
I build it. I write your copy. I enter your products.
You send photos and details. I do the rest.
Simple pricing. Simple process. Completely managed by someone who actually farms.
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