Imposter Syndrome - Susie Jackson

I’ve heard it said that the people who don’t suffer from impostor syndrome are the ones who are the impostors. While this is a very general assumption, the likelihood is that if you aren’t suffering from impostor syndrome now, you’ll probably have experienced it at some time or other during your career.

Impostor syndrome can be particularly harmful for those of us who run our own businesses. This is because, in my experience, how much you charge has a direct correlation with your own feelings of self-worth. And if you aren’t feeling very confident or are questioning whether you might be an impostor, you’re likely to charge less than you could be charging for your services. Experiencing impostor syndrome usually has a direct impact on your income.

Impostor syndrome can be a particular issue for freelancers and small business owners who are just starting out. When you don’t have much experience and are finding your feet, you might believe that the service you’re providing isn’t worth that much, or isn’t worth what other freelancers with more experience are charging. The problem is that starting your freelance career with low fees sets an unhealthy and unsustainable precedent for your customer base.

In this blog post, I’m sharing some advice on how to overcome impostor syndrome so it doesn’t have a negative impact on your pricing. I’m giving you both mindset and practical tips to help you face your impostor syndrome head on.

Mindset tips to help you view your impostor syndrome differently

1) Remember that your level of experience doesn’t necessarily have a direct impact on the quality of your work

It’s important to recognise that how experienced you are doesn’t correlate directly with how good a job you’ll do for the client.

It’s true that experience gives you more lessons to draw on and more time to develop your skills. However, experience can also lead to complacency and getting stuck in your ways. Similarly, there are positives and negatives to not having any experience. There are so many new things you’ll have to learn as you go along. But if you’re fresh out of education, you’ll have studied the latest techniques, and you’ll be well prepared for the job you’re about to do.

Whether or not you have lots of experience isn’t necessarily a direct indication of the quality of your work. If you can do what the client needs at the level they’re expecting (or higher!) then you’re offering an incredibly valuable service.

Appreciating the value of the service you’re providing will help you prevent impostor syndrome from affecting your prices.

2) Understand that the value of your service is two-fold

The value of your service works both ways. It’s not just about how much your service is worth to the client; it’s also about how much it’s worth to you and your business.

Think about what you’d be doing if you weren’t providing this particular service and how much money that could be bringing in instead. For example, within your business, you could be dedicating time to higher-paying projects, or you could be looking for higher-paying clients, which would potentially benefit you more in the long term. Alternatively, you could be taking time off from your business to rest and fill your own cup so you’re ready to return stronger and with more creative ideas.

Always ask yourself if the service you’re providing to the client is worth the effort or if you’d be better off doing something else.

When it comes to your prices, it can also help to think about what you could be doing and earning if you were in paid employment instead. Rather than providing this specific service, how much would you be earning in a job and how much holiday allowance would you be entitled to as a result?

You should always be making sure that the value you’re getting by providing the service compensates for the benefits you could be getting from paid employment.

Practical tips to stop your impostor syndrome affecting your pricing

1) Track your time

Impostor syndrome can make you feel as though you have something to prove. This often results in freelancers and small business owners working very long hours.

Unfortunately, hustle culture seems to be celebrated in today’s society, especially on social media. Working long hours is often worn as a badge of honour, but it’s neither healthy nor sustainable. Over time, it’ll eventually catch up with you, and you’re likely to experience burnout.

Tracking your time can help you understand what’s realistic and sustainable for you without burning out. You’ll be able to identify how many hours you’re able to spend on paid client work each day, and from here, you’ll be able to calculate how much you need to be charging per hour to cover everything you need.

2) Take the emotion out of your pricing

In Charge with Confidence, I show my mentees how to calculate their prices based on their business expenses and their personal outgoings. I help them identify everything they need to be taking into account in their pricing, from retirement and tax to holiday and sick leave.

During the programme, I provide participants with my rate calculator spreadsheet, which allows them to insert the numbers from their business in order to identify their rates based on their unique circumstances.

Since the spreadsheet calculates their rates for them, I find that this helps my mentees take the emotion out of pricing their services. When your rates emerge objectively and there’s no room to be influenced by a lack of confidence or impostor syndrome, you’re more likely to charge an amount that’s right for you. You know that your business needs to cover X, Y and Z to be sustainable and allow you to make ends meet. So if you don’t charge the minimum you need to be earning, you’re going to be struggling financially and might be better off going into full-time employment.

3) Set your capacity at a healthy level

When you’re identifying how many hours you’re able to spend on paid client work and how long it takes you to do things, if you’re suffering from impostor syndrome, it can be tempting to set your capacity based on what you think you should be able to manage.

Maybe you have colleagues who can concentrate on paid client work for 4 hours per day while you can only manage 2. Or depending on your line of work, perhaps you can only produce 300 words in an hour even though the ‘standard’ in your industry is 500.

Don’t let your impostor syndrome tell you how much you should be able to handle. If things take you longer, you might simply be paying more attention to detail, which equates to added value for the client.

Always be realistic and set your capacity at a healthy level based on your time-tracking data. It’s essential that you’re earning your minimum hourly rate if you want your business to be viable. This means that you can’t afford to estimate projects at 5 hours that are really going to take you 7. You need to be earning the right amount per hour for you and nobody else.

4) Understand your absolute minimum rate

Understanding your absolute minimum rate will help you make sure you’re still earning a decent amount even when you’re struggling with impostor syndrome.

Knowing how much you need to make per hour to cover all your outgoings and run a sustainable business is essential. If you accept anything less, you’re either going to have to work longer hours to make up the difference or charge other clients more. The alternative is that you won’t be able to pay for everything you need personally and in your business.

When you know that this is the situation, it makes it far easier to say no to clients whose projects won’t allow you to make ends meet.

Refusing less than your absolute minimum will help you ensure you’re always earning enough. And once you aren’t struggling so much with impostor syndrome, you might even feel confident enough to aim a little higher with your prices. The rate calculator spreadsheet I share during Charge with Confidence calculates your mid-range and aspirational rates as well as your minimum. So when you’re ready to charge more, you’re going to have something to aim at!

I really hope these tips will help you charge a sustainable amount even if you’re suffering from impostor syndrome. So many freelancers and small business owners experience impostor syndrome that it felt right to dedicate an entire blog post to trying to help you overcome it, or at least stop it affecting your pricing.

If you’d like some additional support to understand your absolute minimum rate and remove the emotion from pricing your services, I think you’ll find Charge with Confidence really useful. During the programme, we’ll identify all the things your rates need to be covering, and I’ll help you understand what’s realistic and sustainable for you when it comes to your capacity. Just click on the button below to find out more!

Find out more about Charge with Confidence