The “Feels Good, Fails Hard” Trap

I had a client this week who wanted to reward his existing buyers with a special offer.
Generous guy.
His idea? A recurring subscription with the first month free.

Sounds great, right?

It did.. until we ran the math.

See, his margins were already thin.
And when we actually plugged the numbers in, that “free month” meant he wouldn’t break even until month eight.

That’s a long time to be losing money before you even get to zero.

So we made a few tweaks.
We raised the monthly price a bit.
Charged half for the first month instead of giving it away.
Still an amazing deal for his buyers.. but now he breaks even by month two.

That’s a win-win.

You don’t have to give everything away to build trust.
You don’t have to bleed money to prove your value.

A good deal should feel generous to the customer...
but it should also make sense for you.

Because if it doesn’t work for both sides.. 
it doesn’t work.

🚀

​- James