Knowledge catalogue / Pricing

How to price a video project so every quote isn't a guess

A price isn't something you find, it's something you build, the same way every time. A price you can explain is a price you can hold.

The method: cost of delivery

The sharpest operators don't guess. They run a calculation and the number falls out the other end. It has four parts:

• Your time. All of it. Shooting, editing, travel, admin, the back and forth. The hours the client never sees still cost you the hours.
• Your gear. Maintenance, upgrades, the slow depreciation of kit that doesn't replace itself.
• Your overhead. Insurance, software, marketing, the cost of simply being open.
• Your margin. You're not running a charity. Profit is a line, not a leftover.

Add those up and you have a floor you can stand on. Now the price isn't a feeling you're defending, it's a calculation you can walk a client through.

Why it gives you control

With no system, every quote is a fresh act of nerve, so you go low and fold the moment a client pushes. This is also the foundation under every other money problem: you can't charge for the invisible work, hold scope instead of price, or move to a retainer if you don't know what your delivery costs.

Try this

Take your last real job and build the four-part number on it after the fact. Compare it to what you actually charged. That gap is the conversation.