This is Episode 5 of the new series, The One Problem. This week, Deb Boulanger from The Launch Lab for Women Entrepreneurs talks about using Return on Advantage to closing the wage gap.
My name is Avil Beckford, and I started this new initiative, The One Problem. It's something that's near and dear to my heart. What I do, I get people to talk about one problem and in five to ten minutes they provide their solution. Most people are having fun so far with this. And it's a way for us to learn from each other.
So today, my guest is Deb Boulanger. I met her about a year ago, through Ellevate Network where we're both members. She hosts The Life after Corporate podcast. And she does the Launch Lab for Women Entrepreneurs. One of the things that she wants to do is to change the gender wage gap. So now I turn it over to Deb to tell us about her one problem and her solution.
Deb Boulanger
You are so amazing. Thank you for inviting me to this program. When I learned that on average, women entrepreneurs earn 30 cents to the dollar to their male counterparts, something inside of me just burst open because the wage gap in the corporate world is bad enough with 75 to 80 cents on the dollar.
Deb Boulanger from The Launch Lab for Women Entrepreneurs Talks About Closing the Gender Wage Gap
But with entrepreneurship, women were significantly undervaluing their services, underpricing their services. And as I dug a little deeper, what I found was women were underpricing their services because they were undervaluing their impact.
Return on Advantage: The Answer to Closing the Wage Gap for Women Entrepreneurs
Deb Boulanger
And I came up with a new concept, which is Return on Advantage. So there's a few mistakes we make when we're first starting out as entrepreneurs. One, we might be pricing by the hour, and that causes all sorts of stuff to kick in. What is my time worth? Or perhaps you are charging based on what you see the competition is charging. And the problem with that is that you just look and sound and price like everyone else. There's no distinguishing characteristic of your value or your offer.
And sometimes women get stuck in empathy and price their services based on what they think people can afford. And when you get your head into someone's wallet and you decide for them what's affordable for them, you rob them of the ability to invest in themselves at a higher level. And when people invest in themselves at a higher level, what does that mean?
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Deb Boulanger
It means that they're valuing themselves, that they're placing a high value on who they are. So they want to invest in their skills. They want to invest in their future. So when you decide for them and don't make an offer because you don't think they can afford it, you rob them of that opportunity.
So instead, what I invite you to do is realize that you're more than your last certification. This is not your first rodeo. You are a compendium of all the life and professional experience that you have had up until this point in time. And to embrace your differentiated characteristics, you know, what are you offering that's different than everyone else?
And if you don't have something that's different, if you're a coach or a consultant that doesn't have a value proposition that stands out, then maybe that's where you need to start. But as you start to price your services and I work with clients all the time and literally we doubled their prices, and they are getting easy yeses from their ideal client. So it's not something extraordinary. If you want a place to start, just start by doubling your prices and standing behind the value that you provide.
But what I want you to do is embrace your Return on Advantage and your Return on Advantage is much more than the immediate Return on Investment that someone gets from signing up with you, whether you're a coach, consultant, or some other service provider. It's the long term impact of what you're doing right.
“So consider a relationship coach who helps women in midlife finally find true love. The impact of that is not only the getting into a good relationship. It's like finding the love of your life and increasing your happiness, increasing your connection, having a life partner to spend the rest of your life with. The Return on Advantage is so much more than the short period of time you might spend with that person.”
Deb Boulanger
Or consider a career coach who helps you get a promotion and you get a sign on bonus and a larger salary. And because of that, your bonus, which is a percentage of your salary is that much higher. Well, the thing that we don't talk about is the increased confidence that that woman gets from being able to negotiate for herself, to be able to stand up for her value and the impact that that has for the rest of her career.
Deb Boulanger
So, Avil, my one thought. My one thing is to embrace your return on advantage so that we can finally close that wage gap with women entrepreneurs and you can charge based on the value that you are delivering to your ideal clients.
Avil Beckford
I love this concept of Return on Advantage and I'm really glad to have decided to do this because so far my guests have been educating people on important matters that some of us may not be thinking about. So thank you so much, Deb.
Deb Boulanger
My pleasure.
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