The €70,000 gap few talk about
You’re technically brilliant.
Your portfolio proves it.
Your past clients rave about you.
You’ve done the work that others only dream about.
So why does your bank account tell a different story?
Let me show you the math that nobody talks about.
The €70,000 gap.
If your throat closes when you think about asking for €10,000, so you charge €3,000 instead...
And you do 10 projects a year...
That’s €70,000 left on the table.
Every. Single. Year.
But it’s not just about the money.
The real cost here
When you undercharge, you don’t just lose revenue. You lose:
Time: You need 3-4 clients at €3k to make what you’d make with one €10k client. That’s 3x the meetings, revisions, hand-holding.
Energy: Every underpriced project feels like proving yourself again. You over-deliver hoping they’ll finally see your worth.
Confidence: Each time you accept less than you’re worth, your nervous system logs it as evidence: “See? You’re not actually valuable enough.”
Boundaries: When you’re undercharging, you can’t afford to say no. So you take on work that drains you, clients who don’t respect you, projects that aren’t aligned.
Future opportunities: The €3k clients refer €3k clients. The €10k clients play in a different league entirely.
Five years of this pattern? That’s €350,000 in lost revenue, countless hours of unnecessary work, and a nervous system that’s learned to play small.
Why this isn’t a pricing problem
Here’s what I’ve learned working with dozens of skilled creatives and entrepreneurs:
You already know your work is worth more.
You’ve read the pricing articles. You’ve done the calculations. You’ve told yourself “next time I’ll charge more.”
But then the moment comes - the client meeting, the proposal email, the contract negotiation - and your body betrays you.
Throat tightens. Belly clenches. That little voice whispers: “What if they say no? What if they think you’re not worth it? What if you lose the opportunity?”
So you drop your price. You add extra deliverables “to sweeten the deal.” You apologize for the number before you even say it.
This isn’t a confidence problem. It’s not an imposter syndrome problem. It’s not even a sales skills problem.
It’s a nervous system problem.
Your body learned early that being small and quiet was safer than being seen. That managing other people’s comfort mattered more than stating your needs. That asking for what you want led to rejection or conflict.
Those survival strategies kept you safe as a kid.
But they’re bankrupting you as an adult.
The quick assessment
Slowly take a deep breath into your body through your nose, depp into your stomach and out through your mouth 3 times.
Then read each of these statements and notice what happens in your body:
“I’m charging €10,000 for this project.”
“That’s outside my scope, it will cost extra.”
“No, I’m not available to work on weekends.”
“My rate is non-negotiable.”
Did your throat tighten? Belly brace? Chest constrict?
That’s not fear of rejection. That’s your nervous system running an old program responding: “Speaking up isn’t safe.”
What actually works
What you don’t need is another pricing strategy. You need to rewire the nervous system pattern that’s preventing you from implementing any strategy.
You need to process why your body interprets “asking for your worth” as a threat.
You need to stop attracting clients who smell your uncertainty and use it to negotiate down.
This is why Jamie could pitch €10,000 after 7 weeks when he couldn’t ask for €3,000 before.
Here, we didn’t just work on his pricing.
We worked on why his throat closed.
We processed the old survival patterns.
We gave his nervous system a new experience: “I can speak my truth and be safe.”
The pricing change was just the symptom. The nervous system shift was the cure.
The big question
So here’s what I want you to sit with:
If you stay on this trajectory - undercharging, over-delivering, managing everyone’s comfort except your own - where will you be in 5 years?
Will you finally have the business you dreamed of? Or will you still be hustling, proving, apologising?
Sure, your technical skills might improve. Your portfolio will keep growing. But your revenue will stay stuck as long as your nervous system is running old survival code.
The €70,000 gap isn’t the problem. It’s the symptom.
The question is: how much longer can you afford to leave it unaddressed?
Yesterday I shared why traditional business coaching fails to fix this (and what actually works). If you’re tired of knowing what to do but not being able to do it, stay tuned for the coming days.
Or if you’re ready to address this now, reply to this email with “READY” and let’s talk.
– Dan