How to price different jobs?

[RH Arb]

Hi I'm just starting out in the arb industry after finishing college and wondering how different jobs are priced? Crown raising, crown thinning or reductions as well as removals that require lowering equipment as well as ones that don't require it, is there a good pricing tool or template so I know I'm not over or under charging someone? 

And how you would price emergency tree works? Should it be done as a good Samaritan?

Thanks 👍 

[woody paul]

25 minutes ago, RH Arb said:

, is there a good pricing tool or template so I know I'm not over or under charging someone?

Years in the trade, but you can still get it a little wrong once in a while. 

[htb]

Experience. 

Not being harsh but I think you need to gain experience working for other companies to see how they work and gain an understanding of how long each aspect of job takes and from that you will be able to work out pricing. Also if you are fresh out of college you will not be up to commercial speed.

In reality pricing is a mix of experience and educated guesswork, also depends on your area.

[RH Arb]

6 minutes ago, htb said:

Experience. 

Not being harsh but I think you need to gain experience working for other companies to see how they work and gain an understanding of how long each aspect of job takes and from that you will be able to work out pricing. Also if you are fresh out of college you will not be up to commercial speed.

In reality pricing is a mix of experience and educated guesswork, also depends on your area.

That's fair, but 9 times out of 10 I'm doing the work of 2/3 people, figured why not work for myself instead. At the moment just looking for the odd job to build up a portfolio

[doobin]

Charge what it’s worth to you and go from there. Most likely you will underprice. Don’t stay a busy fool, put your rates up as soon as you have consistent work. 

[Will C]

Work out your over heads per day/week once you know that your half way there, once you know you need to bring in x per day plus enough to grow, pay for repairs, have a week off in the summer etc then you look at the job and think I can do this in x number of days 

add the two together and your somewhere near. Also once you have a price always add at least 10% if it’s connifer as it will be 10% + bigger than you think it is 🤣

[Con]

If you know how long the job is going to take you, its not that hard. 

If you're not sure, it's a bit tricky.

Only other thing I would say, don't just  consider the tree, access, obstacles, terrain etc. Same tree in a front garden, on top of the chipper , could be half the price

[Mike Hill]

Work out how much you want to make per anum and devide that by how many hours you want to work.

 

Then apply that formula to each job you look at,plus the hourly rate that your company costs to run.

 

How much you want to charge is up to you,how much you actually get is up to the customer.

[Hank]

I just charge a day rate and give them an estimate of how long I think it'll take. 

[Domino]

Fixed price all the way for everything, every time.  Precise quotes that literally list absolutely all works down to the tiniest detail so everyone knows exactly where they stand and nothing is questionable. 

Always consider your waste removal costs for every job, this is the hardest part of tree surgery.  Push clients into waste removal, it's a better service generally speaking and you will make on the arisings in the long run.  This entails getting your chipper/truck sorted and yard/waste drop off sites nailed down first. 

You need to earn at least £350 profit for yourself each day, subbies to add to that, all machinery costs such as purchase/hire/maintenance to add again to that. 

Good luck.