get the price right?

[skyhuck]

in my experience using shagged out gear increases your costs as time is wasted fixing

 

Very true

[Tom D]

If you have been trading for a year its very easy to work out your day rate. Ignore what your accounts say and look at your bank statements. Go back over the last 12 months and add up all the money you paid in, thats your turnover. then add up all the money you paid out, including to yourself ( this should be less than the turnover:001_smile:).

 

Divide your outgoings by 190 as this is a realistic estimate of the days that you are likely to work. That will give you your break even day rate. This is NOT what you should charge. You should add your desired profit margin to this and work on the basis that you NEVER go lower than that figure, not even for the sweetest old lady.

 

So long as you haven't dramatically changed your outgoings since the statements that you based your calculationsd on this is a foolproof method of making sure that you always make money.

 

And finally if you can't stick to your day rate and keep doing jobs for less for any reason, than you are not cut out to be a businessman and should go and get a job working for someone else instead.

[bjam1964]

To compensate for local area competition simply monitor your quotation success rate. Aim for around 75 - 80%. If you are lower then your local market will not sustain your day rate and the competition is cheaper. If you are a lot higher then your pricing is probably too cheap.

 

If you are able to make a profit and grow your business with a 75-80% success rate on quotations then you are doing the right thing and will stay in business.

 

All of the above does not apply to what I call "Yellow Pages" customers. The majority tend to look for the cheapest price and will call in 4-5 local companies wasting a lot of peoples time.

 

The best thing to do is to master the skill of weeding out the time wasters on the phone and master the art of repeat business through word of mouth advertising. If you have been highly recommended price is rarely the issue and your business can grow quite nicely.

[Mesterh]

in my experience using shagged out gear increases your costs as time is wasted fixing

 

What is shagged out gear though?

 

A 2 year old machine that has NEVER been serviced or a 15 year old machine running on song?

 

I see way too often people critising others for running old equipment, why is this?

 

Does anyone really use shagged out equipment when its fairly cheap to buy decent stuff second hand?

[Dean Lofthouse]

What is shagged out gear though?

 

A 2 year old machine that has NEVER been serviced or a 15 year old machine running on song?

 

I see way too often people critising others for running old equipment, why is this?

 

Does anyone really use shagged out equipment when its fairly cheap to buy decent stuff second hand?

 

I liken it to when I used to sell power tools

 

A builder once joked about why he should spend £140 on a Pro dewalt drill when he can buy a crap one from B&Q for £20 with a two year guarantee, if he breaks it he can just take it back and get a new one and he has done so three times already.

 

I charge a minimum of £60 per hour, a one hour trip to B&Q three times equals £180

 

Running old unserviced equipment is a very expensive pass time.

 

My new Bandit has cost nothing in parts for three years, whereas my mates old timberwolf has had new flywheel bearings, new brakes, new feed motor x 2, ignition switch, relays and countless filters from crap out of the tank

[Mesterh]

£60 to get to B&Q and back!

 

Must cost your missus a fortune when you do a bit of DIY.

[likeitorlumpit]

Yes

theres old gear that is well maintained- thats fine

there's also new gear that is thrashed and not looked after.

I'm not knocking old gear but I have worked with plenty of tree guys who come to site with problems with their tools and it wastes a lot of time for everyone- means we all work harder all day to catch up time lost.

it's usually guys who are not charging enough to put aside time to do saw maintenance

[Dean Lofthouse]

£60 to get to B&Q and back!

 

Must cost your missus a fortune when you do a bit of DIY.

 

If your drill busts mid job, then it costs you working time to go and exchange it or it costs you working time as likeitorlumpit has explained above

[tommer9]

NOught wrong with old gear, its worn out gear that is the problem. My defender is 15 years old, and has left me in the lurch once in 8 years of ownership, my chipper is even older and the lift pump went the other day. I had a new one off deutz within 24 hours, fitted it, and it fell apart after about 10 minutes. I rented a greenmech to get me out of the proverbial, and deutz sorted me with another lift pump under warranty the next day. no loss of earnings, and it took me about 20 mins to fit the pump.

 

Dont know if any of that is relevant, but there you are.

[likeitorlumpit]

NOught wrong with old gear, its worn out gear that is the problem. My defender is 15 years old, and has left me in the lurch once in 8 years of ownership, my chipper is even older and the lift pump went the other day. I had a new one off deutz within 24 hours, fitted it, and it fell apart after about 10 minutes. I rented a greenmech to get me out of the proverbial, and deutz sorted me with another lift pump under warranty the next day. no loss of earnings, and it took me about 20 mins to fit the pump.

 

Dont know if any of that is relevant, but there you are.

 

Thats the point really

You lost money going to the hire station/phoning around for the best price/cost of hire plus the aggro- you always lose money one way or another if stuff busts unless you can predict it and get it ordered in time and fit it before you go on site.

Mind you even new stuff gives grief but not quite so often (usually)

I'm convinced get good discounts+change tools regularly with receipt- then sell stuff that has paid for itself for cash- do the math- in business this is the way forward. Not only that but new gear is up to date with anti-vib/efficiency/image

Look at the new stihl backpack blowers- a joy to use

lecture over

it's just the way i see it

others will see it different

depends where you want to be