It's an ill wind....

[Mr Pounder]

[Mr Pounder]

Out of interest just how much labour do you charge?

[The Medway Handyman]

From

------------------------------------------------ The first hour on site is charged at £45 and includes all travel costs within the ME & DA postcode areas.

After that we charge £12:50 per half hour.

You can book a half day (4 hours) for £110.

After that we charge £10 per half hour.

You can book a whole day (8 hours) for £175.

Materials used are charged extra.

Work on Saturdays is charged at 10% extra.

----------------------------------------------

[fred]

They intended it as a windbreak to protect planting so the mesh looks about right to me.

I see you still can't be bothered to format your quotes, which is a bit rude.

[js.b1]

It has been said before, I think, but perhaps bears saying again.

I think your rates are a little low - that 12:50 should be 14:50 as recover y takes hold. I am not convinced it will cost you work (1hr extra is 29 v 2

5, still under £30), but I suspect over a year it will make a difference.

[spuorgelgoog]

Dogs get fed and taken for walkies.

Pigs get fed and taken to the abbatoir.

So pigs may be more intelligent but I suggest it doesn't do them much good.

Owain

[The Medway Handyman]

I think you are probably right, but like all small business peeps I'm nervous about increasing prices.

I'll give it some more thought. Jan 1 is always a good time to do this sort of thing.

Anyone else like to comment?

[Andy Burns]

I know what you mean!

Like many here, I'm averse to GALMI for anything I can do myself, but do tend to think you could increase your prices, do the local competition publish their rates?

[stuart noble]

In line with whatever inflation has been in the building trade perhaps, but it's still a bit early for medallions and after shave!

[newshound]

ROFL, my small one does that too! (Russell-Collie cross)

[The Natural Philosopher]

It's a small dog thing..

[newshound]

In "consultancy" space it's not uncommon to aim to get 220 working days per year. At your rates that would bring in £38k per year, not exactly a fortune for your part of the world given that you need to run a van and replace tools regularly. OK, you maybe don't have the training / professional development overheads of some consultancies, but you need holidays and an allowance for sickness.

"Professional" customers are probably not going to think your rates excessive, but more ordinary people won't do the same sums. I guess you might find some "professional" customers more pernickity and argumentative than the rest. So if you crank your rates up a bit you might find the client base shifts and is more troublesome.

If I were in your position I would certainly have "formulae" like yours, but I wouldn't publish them too widely. I would try to bid "fixed price" where possible and adjust prices a bit according to ability to pay, bearing in mind that giving a good price to a poor pensioner is probably going to add to your local reputation and bring in more business.

Going off at a tangent, I was listening to Radio 5 Live at around 2 am this morning while awake with cold symptoms, and there was a "Surrey Handyman" doing a phone in. I was appalled at the low standard of the advice (although a fair number of people phoned in with helpful advice). A lot of the calls were from "little old ladies" who deserved better. So there's another business opportunity!

[The Medway Handyman]

Indeed. Many self employed don't charge enough to cover stuff like that.

I do pretty well, bearing in mind a good mark up on materials & very high margin jobs like decking & awnings. But I'm always up for a few extra quid.

I deal with quite a few fussbudget type customers - which I don't mind because they pay more or less whatever you ask. I see myself as a service industry and come from a sales background.

The publishing is deliberate & part of my cunning marketing plan :-)

People appreciate the openness and I get a lot of positive feedback about it. It also weeds out the cheapskates :-)

IME that doesn't work like that. I do give little old ladies a better deal, but that can backfire - because they tell their friends how much they paid.

I did appear on Radio Kent a while back. 200,000 listeners a week. I got 1 job from it :-)

[The Medway Handyman]

Most do, yes. The thing is, I was the first sort of 'professional' handyman service in the area & the buggers all copy my price structure :-)

[ARW]

Those wireless door bells are a bastard to fit...........:-)

[newshound]

That's a very good point. I guess relatively few people (including me, for that matter) don't realise how big real trade discounts can be.

But I'm always up for a few

If it ain't broke don't fix it!

I find exactly the same in my somewhat more esoteric business.

[Weatherlawyer]

I think they are all dickheads, posting on the BBC forums.

[Weatherlawyer]

Ah.. ermmm.

Never mind.

[Weatherlawyer]

Is a Lamb more intelligent than a pig?

[Weatherlawyer]

Leave it till March there will be a lot more then about then. You are charg ing for then right?