How do I raise prices without losing customers?
Short answer
Tell the truth, give notice, and don't apologize. The customers who leave over a fair increase weren't going to stay long anyway.
The script
'Costs have gone up and our prices have to follow. Starting [date], new pricing is [number]. Anything booked before then is at the old rate.' That's the whole message. No paragraph about how hard it was.
What actually happens
You lose three to five percent of customers, usually the slowest payers and biggest complainers. Revenue goes up. The team is happier because they're not running at break-even on every job.
Ask your version of this question
This is one business owner-tested take. Your shop size, trade, and team change the answer. Ask the exact version inside Ask a Shop Owner and get a response grounded in how owners like you actually handled it.
Now run it against your numbers.
This answer is written for shops in general. Inside Ask a Shop Owner it becomes your answer: your revenue, your crew, your market, your history. Ask "How do I raise prices without losing customers" and get the version that accounts for what you already told us.
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