31/10/2026
£25,000 worth of work lost in 2 months. Am I too expensive? 🤔
I spent pretty much the whole day yesterday going through our prices, trying to work out where I’m going wrong.
Am I charging too much? Am I being greedy? Or am I simply not prepared to cut corners?
This is now the second job we’ve lost in two months, with a combined value of just over £25k.
Then I received this message. 👆
Another supplier was 35% cheaper.
Apparently, their workmanship isn’t quite at our level, but it’s close enough for the customer to justify the saving.
And you know what? I get it.
Everyone has a budget, and 35% is a massive difference. I can’t blame anyone for wanting to save that kind of money.
But running a manufacturing business in the UK isn’t cheap. Good materials, experienced staff, proper construction and taking pride in the finished product all come at a cost.
I’m not saying we’re better than everyone else, and I’m certainly not knocking the company that won the job. Fair play to them.
Maybe I need to rethink how we price things. Maybe we need to offer more budget-friendly options.
But I also don’t want to spend years building a reputation for quality, only to start cutting corners just to win work.
So here’s my question…
Would you accept 85–90% of the quality if it meant saving 35%?
Or would you rather pay more to get the best possible finish?
Genuinely interested in what people think, especially other business owners and people in the trade.
👇 Be honest. What would YOU do?
BanquetteSeating JSTUpholstery
