Average day rate for tree surgery

[Daniël Bos]

Well said that man!

Start a register of prices, sign up to it. Get caught under valuing and get whipped with a stingy nettle!.....

 

Do not enter into a race to the bottom with our own colleagues.

 

Steve

 

As well as that there should be an agreement between those signed up to this to not go into each others' patch. A small percentage of profits would have to be used to police the agreements, do the admin etc. This system would be ideal and could keep prices very profitable:thumbup:

 

Until the gov' find out you're running a price-fixing cartel and you all get fined out of business and hopefully imprisoned for a while...

 

Time and time again this exact thread appears "how much should I charge for..." and the answers are always the same "you're undercharging", "them others are ruining the business by underpricing" etc etc winge moan and complain.

If people do not charge enough, they will go bust. Problem solved.

 

I charge as much as I feel on the day, yesterday I went out with no more than £1000 worth of kit and went home with £375 profit. Total running cost for the day a little under £45.

Two days ago I was happy to charge £120 for the whole day with a full complement of kit, only just covered costs but a good day was had. Any other company would have had to put at least £750 on that job, does that mean I underpriced it and ruined other businesses ??

[skyhuck]

As well as that there should be an agreement between those signed up to this to not go into each others' patch. A small percentage of profits would have to be used to police the agreements, do the admin etc. This system would be ideal and could keep prices very profitable:thumbup:

 

Until the gov' find out you're running a price-fixing cartel and you all get fined out of business and hopefully imprisoned for a while...

 

Time and time again this exact thread appears "how much should I charge for..." and the answers are always the same "you're undercharging", "them others are ruining the business by underpricing" etc etc winge moan and complain.

If people do not charge enough, they will go bust. Problem solved.

 

I charge as much as I feel on the day, yesterday I went out with no more than £1000 worth of kit and went home with £375 profit. Total running cost for the day a little under £45.

Two days ago I was happy to charge £120 for the whole day with a full complement of kit, only just covered costs but a good day was had. Any other company would have had to put at least £750 on that job, does that mean I underpriced it and ruined other businesses ??

 

Not sure thats true, many work for very limited profit and live a very simple life, which is fine, but I want a fairly high standard of life, I like to live well, I don't want my wife to work and I need to provide well for my 4 children.

 

So some will be happy to make far less than me per day, but not go bust.

 

I personally think many undervalue their skill and time, but thats their right.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

will all you guys post your numbers because at those rates you can sub for me any days!

 

I can see me getting out of a lot of climbing and ball ache using all your rates!

[Tom D]

As well as that there should be an agreement between those signed up to this to not go into each others' patch. A small percentage of profits would have to be used to police the agreements, do the admin etc. This system would be ideal and could keep prices very profitable:thumbup:

 

Until the gov' find out you're running a price-fixing cartel and you all get fined out of business and hopefully imprisoned for a while...

 

Time and time again this exact thread appears "how much should I charge for..." and the answers are always the same "you're undercharging", "them others are ruining the business by underpricing" etc etc winge moan and complain.

If people do not charge enough, they will go bust. Problem solved.

 

I charge as much as I feel on the day, yesterday I went out with no more than £1000 worth of kit and went home with £375 profit. Total running cost for the day a little under £45.

Two days ago I was happy to charge £120 for the whole day with a full complement of kit, only just covered costs but a good day was had. Any other company would have had to put at least £750 on that job, does that mean I underpriced it and ruined other businesses ??

 

I doubt that! what was your wage for the day, did you employ anyone else? Your running costs aren't just your fuel for the day. Want to know what your running costs really are? Go through your bank statements for the year and add up everything you have spent, I mean everything, then add your own wage, you now have a number, probably more than 50k unless you are part time. Now you need to know how many days you actually work (productive work that is, not pricing or maintenance) , chances are its 9 days in 10 or maybe even less.

So out of 261 working days in the year you might work 230 if you are doing well, so divide your total costs by 230 and for £50k that equals around £220 a day......

 

So your £120 day out just cost you £100...

[skyhuck]

I doubt that! what was your wage for the day, did you employ anyone else? Your running costs aren't just your fuel for the day. Want to know what your running costs really are? Go through your bank statements for the year and add up everything you have spent, I mean everything, then add your own wage, you now have a number, probably more than 50k unless you are part time. Now you need to know how many days you actually work (productive work that is, not pricing or maintenance) , chances are its 9 days in 10 or maybe even less.

So out of 261 working days in the year you might work 230 if you are doing well, so divide your total costs by 230 and for £50k that equals around £220 a day......

 

So your £120 day out just cost you £100...

 

:congrats:

[skyhuck]

I doubt that! what was your wage for the day, did you employ anyone else? Your running costs aren't just your fuel for the day. Want to know what your running costs really are? Go through your bank statements for the year and add up everything you have spent, I mean everything, then add your own wage, you now have a number, probably more than 50k unless you are part time. Now you need to know how many days you actually work (productive work that is, not pricing or maintenance) , chances are its 9 days in 10 or maybe even less.

So out of 261 working days in the year you might work 230 if you are doing well, so divide your total costs by 230 and for £50k that equals around £220 a day......

 

So your £120 day out just cost you £100...

 

Although………….. staying at home would have cost more…………...

[Philip Anderson]

As well as that there should be an agreement between those signed up to this to not go into each others' patch. A small percentage of profits would have to be used to police the agreements, do the admin etc. This system would be ideal and could keep prices very profitable:thumbup:

 

Until the gov' find out you're running a price-fixing cartel and you all get fined out of business and hopefully imprisoned for a while...

 

Time and time again this exact thread appears "how much should I charge for..." and the answers are always the same "you're undercharging", "them others are ruining the business by underpricing" etc etc winge moan and complain.

If people do not charge enough, they will go bust. Problem solved.

 

I charge as much as I feel on the day, yesterday I went out with no more than £1000 worth of kit and went home with £375 profit. Total running cost for the day a little under £45.

Two days ago I was happy to charge £120 for the whole day with a full complement of kit, only just covered costs but a good day was had. Any other company would have had to put at least £750 on that job, does that mean I underpriced it and ruined other businesses ??

 

Yes probably next time they will expect the same cheap rate!

I don't think anybody is seriously proposing a cartel what they are saying is what ever your business model is big or small do your sums run it like business and charge a rate that values the level of skill our industry demands.

Also sometimes it takes a while for people to go bust by the time that happens they have had a big effect on the local market.

[SteveA]

Well I'm not expecting Glastir to cover all the tree surgery day rates, so I'd like to trade peas to cover the extra amount, and if you work really hard may include a bag of spinach.

[skyhuck]

Yes probably next time they will expect the same cheap rate!

I don't think anybody is seriously proposing a cartel what they are saying is what ever your business model is big or small do your sums run it like business and charge a rate that values the level of skill our industry demands.

Also sometimes it takes a while for people to go bust by the time that happens they have had a big effect on the local market.

 

Plus there is a never ending stream of new guys who work for nothing for far to long

[Philip Anderson]

Plus there is a never ending stream of new guys who work for nothing for far to long

 

Agreed