I don't do it for the money, or...?

“I don’t do it for the money.”

If you’ve ever said that (out loud or just in your head), this one’s for you.

Because when you set up on your own – whether as a freelancer, coach, tutor, creative or “accidental business owner” – it’s very easy to tell yourself that.

You’re not chasing some bro-y “7 figure hustle” dream. You wanted autonomy.

Flexibility.

To be your own boss.

Maybe it was:

• Being able to do the school run

• Being around in the holidays

• Not having to squeeze yourself into “business dress” and make small talk at the office water cooler when all you wanted to do was grab your printing and escape

• Being utterly done with the corporateness of things and feeling like you were losing yourself a little

So you took a leap – a huge one – and set up on your own.

And then… reality turned up with a pile of bills and your mortgage statement.

No fixed income is f*cking scary.

Suddenly you’re aware of every light left on in the house, you're turning the heating down (and not just because of the hot flushes), and refreshing your banking app more often than is emotionally healthy.

So, in a battle to “make it work”, you:

• Say yes to almost anything

• Pitch at a price that feels “reasonable”

• Tell yourself you have to charge less because you get the flexibility... right?

And so “I don’t do it for the money” quietly turns into “I’m not allowed to ask for the money.”

The problem with “I don’t do it for the money”

Let’s be honest: you probably don’t do it just for the money.

You care about the work.

The impact.

The people.

You left something safe because you wanted more meaning and more freedom, not because you wanted to swim in notes like Scrooge McDuck (remember him diving off the board into his money?!).

But here’s the uncomfortable truth:

You can’t have true flexibility and freedom if you’re constantly financially stretched.

When you’re self-employed you lose:

• Sick pay

• Holiday pay

• Employer pension contributions

• Regular, predictable income

So the money actually matters more, not less.

And yet, women in self-employment are consistently charging less and worrying more:

• One report found that self-employed men charge an average of 43% more than self-employed women for their work.

• Half (49%) of self-employed women say they worry about their financial circumstances all or most of the time. (via IPSE)

• Another survey of over 1,000 UK female founders found that nearly three in five (57%) said a lack of business knowledge and confidence – especially around finance – is holding them back. (via Small Business Britain)

So if you’ve ever underpriced, over-delivered, or apologised when sending an invoice… you are very much not alone.

This isn’t a personal failing.

It's a pattern.

You’re not a beginner forever

When you first go self-employed, there is a scrappy “testing phase” at the start.

You might:

• Take on work that isn’t 100% aligned

• Charge a bit lower while you build confidence and case studies

• Say yes more than you’d like because the bills are still very real

I’ve been there.

I get it.

And there’s nothing wrong with that as a phase.

The problem is when the testing phase quietly becomes your permanent strategy.

You are not a beginner forever.

At some point, “I’m just grateful to be paid anything” needs to shift into “I run a real business and my rates reflect that.”

A few ideas to help that shift:

• Think of your early days as a test period, not a template. You're collecting data: what you enjoy, what drains you, what people are willing to pay, and where you get best results.

• Set review dates for ongoing work.When you take on a retainer client or long-term project, put a date in your calendar 6–12 months ahead to review scope and price.

• Give yourself a built-in rate rise.The national minimum wage and average salaries usually go up each year – 2024 - 2025 it went up 6.7% and 2025-2026 it's going up another 4.1% (so roughly 10% in 2 years), you're allowed at least that too. You are not the one person in the economy whose prices must stay frozen forever.

  
  

“But if I charge more, I’ll lose the flexibility…”

This is a really common fear.

Especially if you’ve escaped corporate, there’s often this sneaky belief:

“I get to have flexibility, so I shouldn’t expect to be paid as much.”

Except… when you’re self-employed, true flexibility doesn’t come from undercharging and overworking.

It comes from:

• Earning enough that you don’t have to say yes to everything

• Having a buffer for holidays, sick days, and quiet months

• Knowing your numbers well enough to make confident decisions

If your rates are too low, you end up with the worst of both worlds:

• No security

• No proper time off

• And still feeling guilty for charging anything at all

That’s not flexibility. That’s just a different flavour of stuck.

Your rates have a job to do

Your prices aren’t a reflection of your worth as a human.They’re a tool. They have a job to do.

When you’re working out what to charge, your rates need to cover:

• The days you do work with clients

• The days you don’t – holidays, sickness, family emergencies

• The hours you spend on admin, marketing, planning and CPD

• Tax, National Insurance, pension contributions

• And enough for you to actually live, not just survive

Most people accidentally do this:

“What did I earn per hour as an employee?” → “I’ll charge something like that.”

The problem? As an employee, that number already had:

• Employer pension contributions

• Holiday pay spread across the year

• Sick pay and other protections

• An entire infrastructure around you

Now it’s just you.

You are HR, finance, IT, marketing and operations.

So if you simply copy your old hourly rate (or worse, discount it because you’re “new”), you’re almost certainly undercharging.

A simple mindset reframe

It might help to play with this thought:

“I don’t do it only for the money. But the money has to work for this to be sustainable.”

You’re allowed to love your work and be properly paid for it.

Being underpaid doesn’t make you more ethical, more caring or more worthy.

It just makes everything harder.

Journalling prompts

Grab a notebook and gently explore these:

1. Where have I told myself “I don’t do it for the money” – and has that story helped me or held me back?

2. If my business was paying me fairly and sustainably, what would actually change in my life? (Be specific.)

3. Which current offer or client feels “off” when I compare what I’m paid versus the time, energy and responsibility involved?

4. What would “I’m allowed to be well paid for this” look like in practice over the next 6–12 months?

   
   

One practical step you can take this week

Pick ONE of the following:

• Set a review date Look at your longest-running client or package and put a review date in your calendar. On that date, you’ll look at scope, time spent, and whether the price still works.

• Give yourself a quiet cost-of-living raise Choose one service and increase the price by a small, realistic amount (even 4–5% is a start!). New clients see the new rate; existing clients get a clear, kind heads-up when appropriate.

• Get clear on your real numbers Instead of plucking a “nice” rate out of the air, work backwards from your annual income goal and the realistic number of working days in your year.

And if you’re looking at that and thinking “I haven’t got a clue where to start” – I can help.

Want help working out your rates?

If you’d like to sanity-check your prices and see what you really need to charge to build a sustainable, flexible business, I’ve created a free rate-setting tool for you.

Want to work out your rates? Get the free tool by joining my mailing list here: subscribepage.io/nMRBhJ

You don’t do it just for the money. But you are allowed to make enough of it to breathe, to rest, and to keep doing the work you care about – without burning yourself out in the process.

We're doing this. One DaM thing at a time. 💜