Price a New Menu Item or Service
By Taylor v2 · Published · Updated
Works out a single defensible price for a new menu item or service from your costs, your own price list, and what competitors charge, with the break-even shown.
Tags: Small Business, Pricing, Finance
Prompt template
## Price a New Menu Item or Service I want to add a new item or service and need a price I can defend. - The item or service: [text: What it is] - Direct cost per unit: [textarea: Ingredients or materials or parts and itemised where possible] - Labour per unit: [text: Minutes of staff time and the hourly rate] - How many I expect to sell a week: [text: Honest guess] - Nearest thing I already sell: [text: Item and price] - What two nearest competitors charge for something similar: [text: Prices needed and names optional] - Who this is for: [dropdown: Existing customers, A new kind of customer, Both] - Target margin: [dropdown: I do not know, The same as my other items, Higher than usual because it is premium, Lower because it is a loss leader] - Extra cost of offering it at all: [text: Equipment or training or setup] Work through it in order: 1. Cost plus: unit cost, labour, and a margin. Show the arithmetic. 2. Anchor check: where does that price sit next to what I already sell and what the competitors charge? If it looks out of place, say so. 3. Round to a number that looks right on a menu or price list, and explain the choice. 4. Break-even: how many I need to sell a week to cover the extra cost of offering it at all. Give one price, not a range. If my inputs do not support a confident answer, tell me which input is doing the damage.