27% of French entrepreneurs earn less than €15,000 per year. Female freelancers charge on average 15-28% less than their male counterparts for equivalent work. It’s not a skills issue. It’s not a market problem. It’s a price problem, and it has a remedy.
The numbers that hurt
Let’s start by stating the facts – they are harsher than we often believe.
In France, the DGE-Bpifrance 2025 barometer on female entrepreneurship reveals that 27% of businesses created by women with less than €1,000 at start-up generated less than €15,000 in turnover after three years of activity. High-growth companies are twice as likely to be those created by men.
Internationally, the data is just as striking. A Career.io study published in February 2025, analyzing more than 7,000 freelancers on Upwork, establishes that male freelancers charge on average 14.9% more than femaleswith a gap reaching 25% in the Sales & Marketing sector. The Global Freelance Gender Equity Study goes even further: globally, female freelancers are gaining 28% less than their male counterparts.
These differences cannot be explained by different levels of experience. Nor by distinct sectors of activity. They are largely explained by one thing: women set their prices lower.
And the question is not “ why do they do that?“, as if it were a rational and deliberate choice. The question is: what mechanisms, invisible but very real, push them there?
Impostor syndrome at the heart of the problem
The figure is dizzying: 93% of French women entrepreneurs have already suffered from imposter syndromeaccording to Initiative Île-de-France’s 2025 barometer, conducted among 615 female leaders. And among them, 66% feel it “ often“.
What this syndrome actually does to prices is documented with chilling precision in the same study: 56% of entrepreneurs affected by this syndrome underestimated the value of their offer or product.
That’s more than one in two women. Not because they don’t know what their work is worth. But because a deep psychological mechanism, reinforced by a professional environment that is still largely masculine, constantly tells them that they are not entirely legitimate.
93% of female entrepreneurs have suffered from imposter syndrome. And 56% of them, because of him, undervalued their offer. This feeling erodes confidence at the very moment it should be displayed.
This feeling of illegitimacy is not trivial or fleeting. 61% of respondents believe that being a woman specifically accentuates this feeling of imposture in the world of entrepreneurship, proof that it is not a simple question of personality, but of a structurally gendered context.
The 4 mechanisms that keep prices low
1. Fear of rejection and confusion between “ too expensive ” And ” invalid“
Raising your prices means exposing yourself to refusal. And for many women entrepreneurs, a client who says “ it’s too expensive » sounds like a validation of inner doubt: “ I’m not worth this price.“
This slippage, confusing a normal business objection with a confirmation of illegitimacy, is particularly common among women. Result: they lower their prices even before receiving a refusal, in anticipation of disappointment.
2. Education in modesty
For decades, and still today, women have been socialized not to put themselves forward, not to “ asking too much“, to favor harmony over confrontation. Talking about money, negotiating, announcing high fees without apologizing… all of this goes against the grain of this conditioning.
It is not inevitable, but it is a reality that must be named in order to be able to deconstruct it.
3. Sectoral segregation
Women entrepreneurs are mainly concentrated in historically less paid sectors: personal services, training, coaching, communication, crafts, health and well-being. These sectors have less established pricing codes and often more price-sensitive customers, creating additional downward pressure.
It is not the only sector that determines the price, it is also the way in which we position ourselves in this sector. But the market environment matters.
4. The spiral of underbilling
There is a well-documented perverse effect: the lower you charge, the less expert you are perceived to be. Prices that are too low send a signal of low value to customers, who paradoxically may be wary of an underpriced service or less committed to it. Undercharging does not generate more customers. It generates less qualified customers, who negotiate more, and a positioning that retracts on itself.
The 5 most common pricing errors
Mistake #1: Calculating your prices based on your costs and not your value
“ I charge X because it takes me Y hours. » This is the most common reflex, and the most limiting. Pricing based on production time does not capture the value provided to the customer. An hour of strategic support that changes the trajectory of a company is not worth the same as an hour of data entry.
The right question is not “ how long does it take me? ” but “ what is the value of the result for my client?“.
Mistake #2: Aligning with “average” market prices
Looking at what others do to set your own prices is to condemn yourself to remaining average, or below, if the reflex is to place yourself “ a little cheaper to stand out“. Standing out through low price is the most fragile strategy there is: there will always be someone cheaper.
Mistake #3: Offering discounts without compensation
“ I’ll give you a price“. This sentence, uttered spontaneously without the client having negotiated, is one of the most costly in female entrepreneurship. Each unsolicited discount tells the customer that the displayed price was not the real price, and implicitly invites them to negotiate next time.
Mistake #4: Never revaluate your prices
Costs are increasing. Experience accumulates. The value provided increases. But prices often remain fixed, for fear of losing loyal customers or shock“. Not increasing your prices regularly means actually lowering your prices in real terms, since inflation erodes the purchasing power of each euro invoiced.
Mistake #5: Apologizing for announcing your price
Language matters as much as numbers. “ It would be… uh… around €1,500, if that suits you… » is not the same as “ My service is €1,500“. The first formulation invites negotiation and signals doubt. The second states a fact.
How to revalue your prices in 5 steps?
Step 1: Calculate your non-negotiable floor price
Before speaking to a customer, know their figure: the amount below which the service is not economically viable. This calculation includes expenses, non-billable time (prospecting, administration, training), social protection, and a safety margin. This floor is not the price to display, it is the limit to never cross.
Step 2: Document the value provided, not the hours spent
To constitute a “ valuable file »: customer testimonials, concrete results obtained (turnover generated, time saved, problem solved), measurable transformations. This file serves two purposes: to convince customers… and to convince yourself. It’s the antidote to imposter syndrome, because it replaces feelings with facts.
Step 3: Announce your price with a simple sentence and no excuse clause
The most efficient structure: “ (Service) + (expected result) + (price)“ .
“ My 3-month support allows you to attract 30% additional customers. It is €4,500“. Then silence. Silence after a price announcement is one of the most powerful tools in negotiation, and one of the most underutilized.
Step 4: Plan for annual rate increases
Decide now, for next year, on an increase. The reasonable rate for a stable market: 5 to 10% per year. Communicate it in advance to existing customers, highlighting the evolution of the offer or expertise. Loyal, quality customers accept justified increases. Those who leave at the first increase probably weren’t the right customers.
Step 5: Test a higher rate on new prospects
The best way to know if a price is fair is to test it. Offer a new prospect a rate 20 to 30% higher than usual. Observe the reaction. Often, the absence of refusal is the most enlightening and liberating revelation.
Pricing as a political act
There is a collective dimension to this question that goes beyond each individual entrepreneur.
When women systematically underpay themselves, they despite themselves contribute to maintaining lower price references in their sectors. Which weighs on all the others. Increasing your prices is therefore also an act of professional solidarity towards the women who will come after.
And conversely: every time a woman confidently announces a high price, holds her position in a negotiation, refuses an underpriced mission… she redefines, very concretely, what is possible.
Your rates don’t just reflect your value. They reflect the idea you have of your worth. And that can be worked on.
