how to price a job

[Steve Bullman]

as for rip of merchants i mean people that buy a saw then dont bother to get any training then take work away from the guys that do no disrespect to anyone here

 

Thats not a rip off merchant in my book...thats someone getting off their backside and working for a living. hats off to them.

 

And hats off to you for braving starting your own business. I wouldnt have had the guts to do so with no experience.

 

Please dont take any of the criticisms in this thread personally...they are simple facts...you will mess up, and experience is the only thing that will help you learn pricing.

[Lorry thompson]

You will learn fast mate just get stuck in I did and you will probably surprise yourself

[scbk]

Depending on the type of work and who it's for, you could always give an hourly rate....

[Highland Forestry]

Good luck!

[skyhuck]

I agree with you Mark. I set up on my own half way though college with very little experience.

 

I've made a few cock ups on jobs where I've run low on pay for myself or it's taken longer than I wanted. But I've never lost money. Seems to be a lucky guess most of the time and it does take a few tries to get the pricing somewhere on the money!

 

Price for a quality service aswell. I do emphasise this too sometimes when people umm and arr on a price. I say if you get a gardener or someone cheap in you'll get what you pay for. Get an arborist who knows trees and what to do in and you'll get some tidy looking stumps at the end of it!

 

This is going to be my new sales pitch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Rob D]

Just get in there and start pricing....

 

 

[MattyF]

You can always come back here for advice, if i really want a job I put it on day rate so x amount for two guys. Climbers worth there salt are on 150 a day then there's your wage or your groundy and running costs... Try and brake it down in to full and half days.... Or price per tree that's the way you make money but try and use the day rate pricing but doing the tree in the worst weather scenario to cover you if it does happen!! To be honest I am trying to stop myself going in to gardens and saying I will do it on a day rate because I can do about a grands worth of work in a day if i had put it on price per tree and all it does is wear gear and us out to brake even with hardly no profit .... On the other hand it's a good way of gaining a loyal client base who are more than happy to have you back and tell all there friends!! A good way of starting out....?

[Stephen Blair]

The question should be 'How do each of you price your own jobs?'

Most of us are self employed and just given it a bash and here we are a few years on making a living cutting down trees. We are climbers running our own businesses, not business men climbing trees.

Some will do better than others, maybe their area is more affluent or they are just better at doing the deals or are that quick and efficient at the job they get more done.

If you are not very experienced then just be glad of the work and getting home safe.

Good luck

[likeitorlumpit]

You can always come back here for advice, if i really want a job I put it on day rate so x amount for two guys. Climbers worth there salt are on 150 a day then there's your wage or your groundy and running costs... Try and brake it down in to full and half days.... Or price per tree that's the way you make money but try and use the day rate pricing but doing the tree in the worst weather scenario to cover you if it does happen!! To be honest I am trying to stop myself going in to gardens and saying I will do it on a day rate because I can do about a grands worth of work in a day if i had put it on price per tree and all it does is wear gear and us out to brake even with hardly no profit .... On the other hand it's a good way of gaining a loyal client base who are more than happy to have you back and tell all there friends!! A good way of starting out....?

 

I find even day rate is problematical

You work hard and finish early and they ask for some money off or expect some xtras

They don't also understand that your day doesn't finish when you have swept up

[MattyF]

I find even day rate is problematical

You work hard and finish early and they ask for some money off or expect some xtras

They don't also understand that your day doesn't finish when you have swept up

 

Exactly that's why I'm sick of it!! When I was employed I looked at what I was making my bosses in a day as a lead climber foreman ...it could some times be more than i make in a week now but i am guessing those days have gone any way... Pricing up is hard! There is no rule it's worse starting up as you need to price every job to win just to get your self out there, Some times I'm wishing I had kept to freelancing just turn up do the job and home not many other headaches to worry about, Grass is always greener though untill you get there and often it's burnt!