A few readers have said recently that they received a lot of sound advice in a past Pumper Interview story we did with Per Sjofors, the founder and chief executive officer of California-based Atenga Inc., a leading authority on pricing strategies. Because pricing services for profit is critical to the survival of small businesses – especially in a challenging economy – I decided to rerun the interview the Sjofors, one question at a time.

So here’s the first of eight posts covering Sjofor’s words of advice on pricing. I’ll post another nugget of Q & A gold every weekday. I hope you come back and read them all, then take away at least one good tip on boost your profitability during this year’s busy season:

Pumper: What’s the most common mistake small businesses make when setting prices?

Sjofors: The most common mistake I see overall is business owners using their gut feeling to determine prices. This is particularly true with small businesses. People don’t use their costs as a basis. Instead, they pull a number out of thin air and hope it’s the right price—and it never is. They don’t understand how important price can be in their quest for profit. This obviously leads people to leave money on the table. Or, if the price is too high, they don’t attract the business they deserve.

Coming Friday:

So how do people go about figuring out a proper price?