Are we all rubbish?

[Tom D]

Bump!

 

Its just as relevant today as it was 5 years ago...

[Mark Bolam]

You’re wrong Tom.

I would say it’s even more relevant.

[Mick Dempsey]

It’s a good thread, just been through the whole thing.

 

Personally I have to think about things in terms of days/half days because my client base is spread across a larger area than when I was in the Uk.

 

I have invested in bigger gear and whacked my prices up since 2013.

 

Not because of Tom, but I got bored with not being in debt and running older gear!

[stihlmadasever]

On 06/11/2013 at 18:39, Tom D said:

My theory is that a self employed tree surgeon who has a van, chipper and a decent groundy ought to earn 40k+ for himself,

What would folks be charging today concidering this was 5 years ago.

Just interested

[Coletti]

Interesting read that I didn't see when it was first posted. I got thinking about pricing/earnings about a year ago when I stumbled on an inflation calculator. Only a relative newcomer at around 7 years in but I entered in what I was charging when I started (I was still charging the same years on) and was surprised when at the rate of inflation it should have been £50 per day more, doesn't sound a lot but it certainly stacks up when you begin to focus more one a weekly/monthly income instead of per day. Got me thinking about the days work also, obviously with experience and investment in kit your productivity rises but the money per day was still the same so I started to change my tactic a bit and instead of pricing everything working on a day rate I started looking at the job as a whole and what it was worth to do. Hard to explain but I feel there's a lot we all do that requires more money for than the time spent, that again is reflected in more investment in equipment to get the job done faster.

Since both seeing the results on the inflation calculator and starting to consider pricing for the job at hand as opposed to just working it on how many men and how many days, my price has increased, not by a lot and not by the amount of inflation but it's certainly been noticible increase for me yet has had no effect on if I get the job or not.

Another thing that got me thinking was that the majority of the time I was quoting against other, more established firms with more and bigger equipment, I was coming in much cheaper, on a lot of occasions I was half the price for the same job and I wasn't charging silly cheap rates.

[Vespasian]

 

 

If you want to work out how to price a job by inflation, then you might find this vid useful..  deals in exponential growth..   its what most businesses use and governments for that matter..

[Coletti]

 
 
If you want to work out how to price a job by inflation, then you might find this vid useful..  deals in exponential growth..   its what most businesses use and governments for that matter..

I'm not particularly fussed about pricing jobs by inflation, just found it interesting to see how it changed as to be honest, it's something I never thought about before.

[Vespasian]

1 hour ago, Coletti said:

3 hours ago, Vespasian said:

 
 
If you want to work out how to price a job by inflation, then you might find this vid useful..  deals in exponential growth..   its what most businesses use and governments for that matter..

I'm not particularly fussed about pricing jobs by inflation, just found it interesting to see how it changed as to be honest, it's something I never thought about before.

the vid doesn't exactly explain how to price a job through inflation it explains exponential growth..

 

its interesting in its own right..  if you watch it all you'll understand how and why prices rise as they do.

 

which brings me on to why everyone should watch it.  and why its important to put your prices up every now and then..  

[Conor Wright]

Good thread, having read it from the start it seems as if I made a similar pricing structure to Tom D within the last year or so, I had found that The "business" was stagnant, ie. I was working as hard as ever or possibly harder/longer and wasn't banking any more money. I was pricing on a day rate, often undercutting myself by underestimating how quickly I could do a job or working long days for no extra just to keep prices down.. not allowing for complications, tiredness, weather affecting work rate etc.. essentially being part of the problem by ending up being cheap by comparison, the only loser being me in the long run. Now I use better equipment, granted I have some loans but nothing close to unmanagable.. get jobs done faster, price per job, allow for it not to go smoothly.. don't worry if I don't get every job, achieve a higher quality finish as I'm not in a panic to get to the next customer. I have (a little) more time to do things i want to like sign up to arbtalk and walk through the woods, You know, non work related things!

In short, I would advise anyone to ditch the "day rate" and price jobs as individual one off items of work and see where it gets you, you can always drop a bit off to secure a contract. Not so easy to try add some on at the end when you see yourself going home no better off. Remember, not everyone cares how long it will take, they just need to know you can do it, do it well and do it for the price agreed for the job in question.

There is a living to be made in this area, not by robbing anyone but even less from stealing from yourself.

[Paul in France]

Wish price of logs in U.K. Was as described- as a consumer they have rocketed due to increased demand and shortage of supplies - and that's economics - everyone wants a log burner!

maybe the OP should up the price