Reader,
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There's a premium online supermarket I've been using for years.
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Fresh produce, beautiful packaging, stellar customer service. Their prices are much higher than competitors, but you get what you pay for (and I’m okay with that).
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​Something strange happened over the past three months.
Their prices dropped. Bananas, tomatoes, cucumbers, pickles — noticeably cheaper.
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ME: That's a pleasant surprise. Prices are rising everywhere, and this supermarket is lowering theirs.
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​ALSO ME: *tries to place order — gets error message*
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​“Minimum order $160.”
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​Huh? The minimum used to be $80. 🤔
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​The penny dropped:
​They lowered the prices on individual items, but raised the minimum order value.
That's how they're managing to stay profitable.
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My guess: they did some serious number crunching and realized they could afford to lower their prices — so long as they raised the minimum order.
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​So strategic. People now have different positioning in their minds — “the pricing isn't so bad.”
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But because they're forced to hit the order minimum, they'll probably end up spending on items they wouldn't have otherwise purchased.
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​The takeaway pickle price epiphany:
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​Until you sit down and examine your offers — which ones are more profitable, which ones are less profitable, which ones are not even profitable at all (!) — you have no idea where you're making money…and where you’re bleeding it.
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Most of us are running with a vague sense of what's working. We see money coming in (Stripe ping. Woohoo!) and assume everything's fine. But we're not examining which offers are driving real profit.

• How much time did you spend on this project?
• Which other expenses were incurred?
• At the end of the day, what was your profit margin?

(Btw, if you’re a freelancer, you absolutely should have an internal hourly rate for yourself.)
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Reader, be like the grocery story and crunch your numbers.
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What offers should you shelve for 2026?
Which should you double down on?

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P.S. — This is one of the things we focus on inside ScaleTribe — examining the health of your margins and the profitability of your offers. You cannot scale unless you have a highly profitable offer that's working. You can't scale on everything, so you've got to review your offers, crunch the numbers, then figure out which one you're going to double down on.
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If you’re looking to take your business to the next level in 2026, get on the ScaleTribe waitlist. We’re scheduled to open in February! 🎉

​P.P.S. — Want a free guitar? Cool time-sensitive offer:
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​Bright Brush Academy just launched a super fun beginner guitar course taught by the amazing Chava Schneider, called My First Guitar. It’s great for beginners — even if you’ve never held a guitar before. Watch it online at your own pace, or get the “course in a box” for an internet-free option.
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​The first 100 people to sign up before Chanukah get a free guitar! Promo ends Sunday, December 14.
​It makes a great Chanukah gift for the musical women in your life, or for yourself.
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​If you've ever thought “I wish I could play guitar…”
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​Check out a preview lesson ← all the details at this link
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​This is not an affiliate offer. Sharing because you might find this valuable. 😊

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