# Price the New Market Before You Spend

Source: https://ivankamenken.com/new-market-marketing-spend · Last updated 28 October 2026

A new market costs more to enter than the one you know, so the price has to be set before the marketing budget. Ivanka Menken walks the Price-Cash-Confidence Chain with you inside Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, a 6-month 1:1 programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST. You are looking at a quote for a market you have never sold into, the ad spend is double your home number, and you are about to cut the price. You write the price you will charge before any spend starts.

## The spend is set. The price is not.

- Your first new-market month cost more than a quarter at home.
- You are discounting to win the first few customers in a town you do not know.
- You cannot say what the new market must earn before it pays for itself.

**THE CLIENT AND THE MOMENT:** The founder of an established B2B services firm, with a team of nine, is opening a second region. The launch is booked and the usual marketing push is planned. The work is priced exactly as it is at home. The first month in the new region costs more than expected, and the founder is about to cut the price to win the first few clients.

### THE LAUNCH PLAN, AS WRITTEN

- Launch date: booked
- Marketing push: planned, same as home
- Price in the new region: same as home
- What the price must carry: not worked out
- Weeks of payroll the gap leaves: not known

## Spending harder

The obvious fix was to spend harder: more ads, and an extra month of them. It kept the launch busy. It did not change what each job was worth. Every new client in the region still came in at the home price, or below it, and each extra month of marketing came out of the same cash that pays the team of nine.

## The budget was written before the price

Ivanka noticed the order the plan was written in. The launch budget came first and the price was never revisited, so the whole plan depended on volume arriving on time. If it came late, the spend kept running and nothing in the price could carry it.

## Order, not effort

The founder was not short of effort or ideas. The problem was order. The price had to be set for the new market first, and the spend sized to what that price could carry. Doing it the other way round made every slow week a reason to spend more.
A new market is a price problem before it is a marketing problem. The extra spend has to be paid for by the price you charge, not the volume you hope for.

> The spend is paid for by the price you charge, not the volume you hope for.

**The cost of staying stuck:** Enter a market at a price that never recovers the spend, and the discount does not stay there. It travels back to your home customers, who hear the new number, and the margin you had at home goes with it.

## The tool: Price-Cash-Confidence Chain

The Price-Cash-Confidence Chain is the order the money moves in: price first, then margin and cash, then the weeks of payroll that decide how confident you feel. For a new market, Ivanka walks it in that order before any spend is committed.

It is the same chain that sits at the centre of Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, walked for one decision. Three links, in order: the newest price a client has paid, what the new market costs to enter and for how long, and the weeks of payroll the gap leaves covered.

It replaces the launch plan that starts with the marketing budget, the discount offered to win the first clients, and the habit of watching revenue instead of cash.

### What goes on the page

1. Price paid: the newest price a client has paid in the last 90 days
2. Cost to enter: in the example, 15 to 20% of new-market revenue on marketing, against 10% or under overall
3. How long: the number of months the extra spend runs
4. Weeks of payroll: what the gap leaves covered, read weekly
5. The commitment: the price you will charge, decided before any spend starts

It sits inside Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring with the monthly Money-and-Clarity Scorecard, which shows weeks of payroll covered and gross margin. The numbers are worked through together and taken to your own adviser. No separate checkout.

## Walk the chain before the launch

In the example session, Ivanka puts the chain on one page. First: what is the newest price a client has paid in the last 90 days? Second: what will the new market cost to enter, and for how many months? Third: how many weeks of payroll does the gap leave you? She writes the numbers down as the founder says them and marks which are guesses. Before the next session, the founder checks the guesses and holds the new-region price in the first quote.

### The questions

- What is the newest price a client has paid in the last 90 days?
- What will the new market cost to enter?
- For how many months will the extra spend run?
- How many weeks of payroll does the gap leave you?
- Which of these numbers are guesses?

### THE FOUR-STEP LOOP

1. The one thing: The second region and its launch plan.
2. The numbers: The price paid, the cost to enter and the weeks of payroll covered.
3. The story: Why the price feels too high for a market that does not know you yet.
4. The commitment: The price you will charge, written down before any spend starts.

Before the next session, the founder replaces each marked guess with a real number, quotes the first new-region client at the written price, and starts reading weeks of payroll covered every week.

## The price funds the spend

By month 6, the new market is run from the price it can carry, not the volume it might bring.

**NOW**

- The launch budget is written before the price.
- The new region is priced the same as home, or lower.
- Spending harder is the fix when the first month is slow.
- Revenue is watched. Weeks of payroll are not.

**BY MONTH 6**

- The new-market spend is set against a price that funds it.
- The newest-work price has been tested once and kept.
- Marketing stays within the new-market percentage.
- The scorecard shows weeks of payroll covered and gross margin.

The programme is the container: 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions, a monthly scorecard, and reviews at month 3 and month 6.

## The new market starts with a price

Ivanka Menken built Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring for founders of $500K to $3M businesses that are growing while cash tightens. She reads the numbers with you, asks the hard question, and holds you to the decision you write down.
If you are about to open a new market, or have just opened one and are tempted to discount, the decision in front of you is the price you will charge. Write it before the next dollar of spend.

> During our sessions Ivanka isn’t just talking theory. She is sharing her own lived experiences.
>
> Business owner

## Who fits, and who does not

### It fits

- You run a $500K to $3M business and are opening a new market or region.
- The marketing budget is set and the price has not been revisited.
- You are tempted to discount to win the first clients.
- You will read weeks of payroll covered every week.

### It does not fit

- You want accounting or financial advice.
- You want someone to set your marketing budget for you.
- You want a done-for-you fix.
- The new market is already paying for itself.

### Investment

**AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, 6 months.** It is part of Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, a 6-month 1:1 programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, not sold separately.

Included:

- 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions
- The monthly Money-and-Clarity Scorecard
- Reviews at month 3 and month 6
- The Price-Cash-Confidence Chain for each new market

Three founding places in total, shared across all 1:1 mentoring, are available at AUD $1,000/month ex GST, in return for honest monthly feedback and a testimonial, which can be anonymous.

- [Join Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, AUD $1,500/mo, 6 months](https://buy.stripe.com/eVq4gzdKgekN6pcbIcdQQ0t?utm_source=ivankamenken&utm_medium=showcase&utm_campaign=new-market-marketing-spend)
- [Book a 20-minute intro call](https://theartofservice.zohobookings.com.au/?utm_source=ivankamenken&utm_medium=showcase&utm_campaign=new-market-marketing-spend#/15606000001356030)
- [See the Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring programme](https://ivankamenken.com/cash-tight-growing-founder)

## Questions about Price-Cash-Confidence Chain

### Why does a new market cost more than the one you know?

Nobody there knows you yet, so you pay to be found: in the example, 15 to 20% of new-market revenue on marketing, against 10% or under overall. Ivanka Menken works that cost through inside Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, so the price is set to carry it. The programme runs 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.

### Where should the extra spend come from?

From the price you charge in the new market, not from volume you hope will arrive on time. The chain starts with the newest price a client has paid, then the cost to enter, then the weeks of payroll left covered. Ivanka Menken walks it with you in Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.

### Does Ivanka set the marketing budget?

No. Ivanka Menken does not set your budget or give financial advice. She asks the questions in order, writes the numbers down as you say them, marks the guesses, and holds you to the price you commit to. You take the numbers to your own adviser. It is part of Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.

### What if the first month undersells?

Read weeks of payroll covered before you change anything. A slow first month is a reason to check the guesses, not to cut the price or spend harder. Ivanka Menken reviews it with you at the next Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring session and against the monthly scorecard. The programme runs 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.


## Write the price before the next dollar of spend

If you are about to open a new market and the price is the same as home, or lower, start with Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring. The Price-Cash-Confidence Chain is inside it, and the 20-minute intro call is where you can see whether it fits.

- [Join Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, AUD $1,500/mo, 6 months](https://buy.stripe.com/eVq4gzdKgekN6pcbIcdQQ0t?utm_source=ivankamenken&utm_medium=showcase&utm_campaign=new-market-marketing-spend)
- [Book a 20-minute intro call](https://theartofservice.zohobookings.com.au/?utm_source=ivankamenken&utm_medium=showcase&utm_campaign=new-market-marketing-spend#/15606000001356030)
- [See the Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring programme](https://ivankamenken.com/cash-tight-growing-founder)
- [The full Price-Cash-Confidence Chain](https://ivankamenken.com/cash-tight-growing-founder)
- [The money and clarity scorecard](https://ivankamenken.com/scorecard)
- [Anchor the first number before the call](https://ivankamenken.com/first-call-price-anchor)
- [The 13-week cash view](https://ivankamenken.com/13-week-cash-flow-for-founders)

- Every way to work with Ivanka: https://ivankamenken.com/work-with-ivanka