How many hours

[skyhuck]

I put my prices up but keep getting work, trouble is the higher paid jobs need more paper work which means more time.

 

Last week we did a tiny back garden job, had to climb over the rear fence for access, topped a hedge and pruned 2 apple trees for way less than I usually charge for a day cos it was such simple stuff. Not been in a suburban back garden in ages and didnt really want to do it!!

 

Thing is it was totally stress free, minumum paper work finished early AND I got paid at the end of the day, it was the first payment I had had in weeks! I'm owed 6K and that little job made me happier (and temporarily better off) than all the other stuff!! Might have to do more small jobs to keep the sanity (too late for that!)

 

I try to have a mix Rupe, I'm on with some council work just now and with that and some other bits I'll be owed £10K, which I won't see for a few weeks. So over the next week or so I'll be doing some private jobs that will pay at the end of the day, which will help the cash flow no end

[john p]

some very wise words on this thread

[Dean Lofthouse]

Dean, you need to slow it down and spend time doing stuff with the family!

 

put your prices up and do less hours, there is something wrong if you have to give up extra hours to fulfill the needs of your business, least after all the time you been going.

 

You read my mind Tony, my prices are going up again this week, the thing is I'm not particularly cheap anyway. I just do a good tidy job, be polite and dont break anything, so people recommend me.

 

I've just finished now which takes this week up to 79+ hours but i'm stressed out to hell and have been for at least a year.

 

I went to Jonesies show last year and wasn't really myself and I knew it, then I had a week off skiing in jan and thats all the time I have had off. I think the trick is as tony said, price out the ballache jobs and try and reduce the workload

[Rupe]

I try to have a mix Rupe, I'm on with some council work just now and with that and some other bits I'll be owed £10K, which I won't see for a few weeks. So over the next week or so I'll be doing some private jobs that will pay at the end of the day, which will help the cash flow no end

 

Yes I try and have a mix but the balance is off at the moment

 

In january I invoiced 2 jobs, but totalling 4.5k is actually not bad for january, but of course I had nothing to live on in january!!

 

Feb: 5 invoices and higher gross but still no cash flow, so the one garden job we did was very welcome for my spirit as much as anything.

 

Usually one day a week has to be paid straight away to keep things ticking over, and the rest pays the bills on the desk, when it arrives.

 

So, of course I have been paid for the january jobs but the bills were here before the money arrived, not the other way round which is much nicer.

[Rupe]

My point I was trying to make is that all the hours dont always feel worth it!

[Rupe]

Dean, hav eyou ever tried saying no to jobs? Its hard but if you could not do the one worst job of each week how much worse off would you be?

 

So lets say the worst job is the one with the lowest profit, so lots of driving or fuel use and excess machinery where all round, how much worse of would you be without the net profit from that one job?

 

I am not sure I could do it (say no that is) but if all of could we would not necessarily be worse off. We need to be able to earn a living in 5 days a week and anymore should be choice, in a perfect world of course.

[Dean Lofthouse]

You've hit the nail square on the head Rupe, I am that type of person that trys to please everyone and often get taken advantage of.

 

Funny you should say, but last week i did walk away from a job telling them to get someone else it was too much hassle

[Tom D]

I have been doing 80 ish for a while now, with the worst weeks 100 or so, I will be taking it easy soon though. I had to work last week while my wife and kid went on holiday, that is not how I want things to continue...

[Stephen Blair]

You've hit the nail square on the head Rupe, I am that type of person that trys to please everyone and often get taken advantage of.

 

Funny you should say, but last week i did walk away from a job telling them to get someone else it was too much hassle

 

You are the problem Dean, not the customers. You are the perfect guy for getting the job done, but the wrong guy answering the phone and making the deal, you could be the right guy, but you have to be willing to listen to someone as ' bonkers ' as me, as you would say

you are a magnet for the type of customers you need to avoid.

Lots of luv, Stevie

[Rupe]

I very nearly walked last week! But thats a whole nother story, the closest I have ever come to telling a customer to go .... themsleves!

 

I will wait and see if i get paid (50-50 I reckon) before I tell the story.

 

Anyway if you can say no I think it would make you feel better (you, I mean everyone, includign me!) if the profit on the worst day of the week is, say 100-150 and the better days of the week are 300-400 profit then ditching the worse one and having a day off is not a bad idea.

 

I am still not vat registered (I was, now I'm not) but I am hitting the limit every month. For now I want to hit that limit in the least number of days per month, not try and increase turnover just decrease expenditure and make the same target for less work, less wages to pay and less fuel to burn.

 

When I am ready to go over the vat threshold again I also want to be ready to go way over it!