Charging what you're worth: A lesson from Picasso
This week I was reminded of a short story about Pablo Picasso.
You may have heard it yourself. It goes something like this:
A woman went into a cafe in Paris and she saw a man across the room, who she recognised as Pablo Picasso.
She sits and watches for a while as he scribbles on a napkin before tossing it to the side as his coffee arrives.
She musters up the courage to go over and approach him…
“Monsieur Picasso”, she asks, “I love your work! Could I possibly have that little drawing you’ve just made on the napkin over there?”
“Yes of course Madame, that will be 10,000 francs”
The woman, outraged, replies “10,000 francs??! But it only took you 30 seconds to draw that!”
“No, my dear” Picasso replies. “It has taken me forty years to draw this in 30 seconds.”
I’m not sure if the story is true or not - nor do I know whether the woman ever actually pays for the napkin (it would be worth a lot of money by now if she did!!), but the story reminded me of an Instagram post that I have about pricing your design services:
The moral of the story:
What the Picasso story and the Instagram post above have in common is that they are both about charging what you are worth.
The moral of the story is that the value of something is not necessarily determined by the amount of time or effort it takes to create it, but rather by the skill, talent and experience of the creator.
It takes years of experience to make something look easy and effortless.
The woman in the story is shocked that Picasso is charging such a high price for a drawing that only took him a few seconds, but what that price actually reflects is his lifetime of experience as an artist.
What this means for you as an interior designer
As an interior designer or architect, this story should serve as a reminder that the value of your work is not solely based on the time spent on a project, but also on your expertise, creativity and ability to understand and fulfil your client's vision.
If the client could do it themselves then they wouldn’t have hired you.
Use this story as a reminder to be confident in your pricing and to communicate the value of your work to your clients.
My guess is you probably should be charging more!
Thanks for reading and catch you in my next post :)
Clare x
Dr Clare Le Roy
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