AI can help you explain a service package and spot missing work in an estimate. It cannot tell you the highest price a real customer will accept. A polished pricing table is still a proposal that needs checked arithmetic and evidence from actual buyers.
This exercise suits a freelance service, a small business or a new offer built around your existing experience. Start with one service you understand well.
SERVICE PLANNING · GUIDED PRACTICE
See what a package includes and what its price leaves
Compare two fictional slide-review offers, then check what happens when the larger job takes longer. These are arithmetic exercises, not recommended prices.
- Allow
- 15 minutes
- You need
- This page and your own notes; an AI chat is optional
- Practice with
- Fictional information supplied below
Practice updated October 14, 2026. The worked answer is illustrative; no account or purchase is needed.
Describe the work before choosing a price
List the deliverable, who it is for, turnaround time, number of revisions, customer responsibilities and exclusions. “Help with a presentation” is vague. “Review ten slides, provide written comments and hold one 30-minute discussion” is something you can estimate.
Include preparation, messages, checking, revisions and administration. If you use AI, count the time spent supplying context and correcting its output. Do not price as though every generated draft can be delivered immediately.
Check a simple cost scenario
Here is an illustrative calculation, not a recommended rate: four hours at a planning allowance of $40 per hour, plus $20 in direct costs, equals $180. A $240 selling price leaves $60 after those two allowances. That $60 is not necessarily profit: other overhead, taxes, fees, cancellations and unpaid work still matter.
If the job takes six hours instead, the same calculation is $240 in time plus $20 in direct costs. At the $240 price, that scenario is already $20 short before other expenses. Check the figures with a calculator or spreadsheet rather than trusting a chatbot’s total.
The Small Business Administration’s planning resources distinguish one-time and ongoing expenses and encourage researching real costs. Use your own records and current quotes; an invented industry average is a poor starting point.
Compare two packages from the same complete brief
Use the supplied limits and cost assumptions. P2 already includes P1; adding their hours or costs together would count the smaller package twice.
Use only this fictional brief to draft two service-package descriptions and check their cost arithmetic. All amounts are USD and are practice assumptions, not market rates or a recommendation.
P1 – Review package: review up to 10 supplied slides, provide written comments, and hold one 30-minute discussion. No slide rewriting or follow-up revision round is included. Total time allowance is 4 hours, including preparation, messages, checking, discussion, and administration. Planning allowance is $40 per hour; direct costs are $20; proposed price is $240.
P2 – Review plus rewrite: includes P1, rewriting up to 10 slides, and one consolidated revision round within the original brief. Total time allowance is 6 hours INCLUDING all P1 work. Planning allowance is $40 per hour; direct costs are $30 TOTAL, not an addition to P1; proposed price is $360.
P3 – For both: the customer supplies the slides, intended audience, and approved source facts. New research, extra slides, design assets, and unlimited revisions are excluded. Turnaround, payment terms, and extra-work terms are not yet agreed.
P4 – Stress case: P2 takes 9 total hours; all other P2 assumptions stay the same. Other overhead, tax, fees, and unpaid sales work have not been included in any scenario.
Keep the proposed prices and limits unchanged. For P1, P2, and the stress case, show time allowance plus direct costs, then price minus those allowances. Call that remainder ‘before other expenses’, not profit. List unresolved terms separately. Do not invent demand, customer approval, competitor prices, or guaranteed savings.
Worked example: a bigger price still needs a cost check
Review — proposed $240: up to 10 slides, written comments, and one 30-minute discussion. No rewriting or follow-up revision round.
Review plus rewrite — proposed $360: everything in Review, rewriting up to 10 slides, and one consolidated revision round within the original brief. Six hours and $30 direct costs cover the whole package.
For both, the customer supplies the slides, audience, and approved facts. New research, extra slides, design assets, and unlimited revisions are excluded. Turnaround, payment, and extra-work terms still need agreement.
| Scenario | Time + direct costs | Price − allowances |
|---|---|---|
| P1: 4 hours | 4 × $40 + $20 = $180 | $240 − $180 = $60 |
| P2: 6 hours total | 6 × $40 + $30 = $270 | $360 − $270 = $90 |
| P2 stress case: 9 hours total | 9 × $40 + $30 = $390 | $360 − $390 = −$30 |
The six-hour P2 scenario leaves $90 before other expenses; the nine-hour scenario falls $30 short of even these allowances. Neither result establishes profit or what a customer will pay.
Catch the unsupported promise
The draft says, “The larger package guarantees $90 profit and unlimited revisions.” Which parts disagree with the brief?
Reveal the corrected conclusion
$90 is the remainder before uncounted expenses in the six-hour scenario. P2 allows one consolidated revision round within the brief. Nine hours would instead leave a $30 shortfall before other expenses. No purchase commitment or demand evidence has been supplied.
A grounded replacement is: “At six total hours, the proposed $360 package leaves $90 after the stated time allowance and direct costs, before other expenses. It includes one consolidated revision round; the estimate needs checking against real work.”
If a revised answer still calls this guaranteed profit, keep your checked calculation and remove that claim. Check actual time, expenses and scope with the people doing the work before quoting a real package.
Adapt the exercise to your own service
Compare the descriptions side by side. Can a customer tell what the additional price buys? Can you deliver the larger package without creating unlimited support? A second option should represent a real difference in work, not an artificial excuse to make the first look inadequate.
Test understanding before assuming demand
Show a small number of relevant people the offer and ask what they believe is included. Ask what is unclear, what they would compare it with, and whether they have bought something similar. A compliment or an AI-generated customer persona is not a purchase commitment.
If you run a real paid trial, state the scope and total price clearly. Review the time, expenses, revisions and customer experience afterward. Change one important assumption at a time so you can understand why the result changed. Avoid inferring what an individual can afford from age, health or other sensitive personal information.
Use our customer-interview exercise to prepare useful questions. Keep the final pricing decision with someone who understands the business, and use an accountant or other qualified adviser for financial or tax questions.
Illustrative photo by Recha Oktaviani on Unsplash.
