skyhuck

Dean make up your mind, how could I be "way out"? as all firms have "individual" price's! And you would never know if you were "way out" now would you? And how could any one "help" me with my price's? remember all I need to do if add up my costs plus a wage! its easy!

No! Sorry!

Utter rubbish,IMO. Following your logic, Cd's would cost only a few pence as that is all they cost to make! Why do song writers continue to make money on songs they wrote after they have "covered their cost's"? Greedy sods I suppose. So Dean once you've paid your mortgage off you'll be be dropping your rates?As your costs will be less. I take my costs plus a wage as my starting point and try to get more if I can! Not by ripping people off but by trying to do the job for the same price or a little less than my competitors, but doing it in a more efficient manner and in less time, thus bringing down my costs and pushing up my profit!! But hey you do it your way Dean and I'll do it mine! But you will never see me posting about how bad the money is in our industry. As I find that the money is just fine:001_tongue:

Not necessarily! If I discover I was £1000 less than the other prices I'll raise my price next time!!!.......... I'd be a fool not to!!!

Thats not a U5000!!

Few years ago I fell in the canal with my 020, it was running when I fell it but not when I got out! I just took out the plug pulled it a few times to get the water out the pot, dried of the filter put the plug back, pulled it about 20 times and bingo, carried on with the job.

Not the way I do it! There is more than one way to skin a cat! I believe that every job has a price, the trick is to try and work out what that price is. With the equipment I have if I simply worked out my costs and added a wage I would under price a lot of my work. Most of my competition use tranys and small chippers, so when I look at a job I try to work out how long it would take with their gear and price accordingly, I then endeavor to do the job in much less time than it would take them and thus make a healthy profit. Asking customers what other prices they got is all part of keeping track of the "going rate" so to speak. If you quote for United Utility's wether you win the job or not you get a break down of all the other prices tendered, they don't tell you who the contractors are they are simple called contractor "a"or"b"and so on. Are they unprofessional? I seem to recall reading somewhere that the AA recommend that when you tender for council work if you don't win the work you should ask for feed back. As for this driving down prices, it is just as likely to help prices rise, if you win the job and find you were £100 less than the other prices you are going to raise your prices, well I am!!

I disagree Dean. I think that if you don't win the job it is quite acceptable to ask the customer, in a polite manner, if they would mind telling you what the winning price was. After all you have given of your time to look at the job! Simple say you wish to evaluate your costs and have an idea of market values. And if I win a job I tend to wait for an opportune moment during the job to ask what other prices they had and find out how much I won it by.

I think your decision to use a crane for this job made perfect sense, both from a practical and financial point of view! good call, IMO!! Looks like it was a very professional and well run job! Nice one! And thanks for sharing!

Many of you keep saying that the reason for the barbers chair is that the cut was to high:confused1: I don't get this, I would not fell at that hight normally, as I want my timber in long lengths for my timber trailer. But I don't see how felling hight contributes to the barbers chair? This one was felled high no problem:001_cool:

LOL!!!!!! Nice one Dean!! made me smile MATE!!!

Looks like one of mine LOL!!!!!!!!!!! (Thought I'd beat Bob to that comment!)

Sounds like a line from a horror movie!!!!!

:congrats:

I don't think the "lol" is in any way appropriate!!

My dad is a joiner, when he took his City & Guilds exams one of the papers was how you work arches and curves. There are various formulas you have to learn that help you calculate the curve, my dad is dyslexic, like me, so me could not remember the formulas, so he used his own method to calculate the arches and curves, he showed his working out on a separate sheet of paper. When the papers had been marked the tutor asked to speak to my dad, he told him that he was the only student they had ever had who had got all the curves and arches 100% correct but the test was to see if you knew the formulas so he failed So if you want an arch building you could get a man with the bit of paper to say he knows the formula, but may not know how to apply it! Or my dad can work it out spot on but, he won't have the bit of paper.

Good point Lee! When you don't have all the facts its easy to jump to concussions.

Totally agree MATE!!!!!

This one http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=2871&highlight=invitation

Sounds like your an "arb pimp" LOL!!!!!!

I don't have any mates so its not a problem

IMO the only reason you need to ring him is to tell that it's a coincidence that they have rung you. If you don't he may think you were handing out YOUR business card to HIS customers on HIS jobs. You should not ring to apologise for getting the job, just to give him the facts' so he does not get the wrong end of the stick, if it were me I would appreciate the call.

LOL!!!! Like your style!! We must all do whats best for us

I didn't want to become a manager, so I upped what I wanted by £100 a day, cut back to me plus one man and have never looked back!