Rates/Charges

[Danielb]

Thinking of going self employed but have no idea what to charge per job or how to work it out to make it fair.

How do you work out what to charge for each job?

[lockie]

You need to work out your overheads including everything then work out how much you want to earn per week then divide it by how many jobs per week or day you want to do to arrive at a basic figure you need to earn.

Also you have to work out what others are charging so you are competitive too.
Don't make the mistake many make by being too cheap or being a busy fool (doing loads of work for little return)

How do you intend to get work ?
What trade is it your going into ?

Obviously how much you make on each job will depend on the trade your in.
A plasterer for example can turn a bag of plaster into quite a bit of money for very little outlay.
In my trade (locksmith) i can earn well but ive outlaid ££££ in stock and tools which is all factored into the prices.

Take a look at the business link website and other business websites to understand what you are doing in more depth.

Are you setting up as a self employed tradesman or setting up your own business ?

I see myself as the latter, im running business and happen to be running it in the locksmith trade.

[big-all]

heeelllooo daniel b and welcome

you need to know your costs you will need to charge around twice what you think to make a living wage
you need to cover pension costs sickness +holidays costs vehicle + running costs traveling and estimating costs

you need to underprice the smaller jobs and hope to get futher work from them

be prepaired to not make any real money for around 2 years especialy in the present climate

be prepaired to expand your skills base but dont charge the customer extra for you learning on the job

[Danielb]

Well i would like to make enough to live of otherwise not worth doing it.

The trade I would be doing is carpentry and joinery and painting and decorating. I am happy to lean new skills.

[thescruff]

What ba is saying is, unless you have a customer base and work to start, the next couple of years is not a good idea to start a one man band.

Ok, if you're out of work it's a different story its worth a try, otherwise sit tight for the time being and build it up part time.

[lockie]

If your starting up read everything you can on marketing so you get in the frame of mind of how to get work.

Its going to be a long hard struggle in the current climate with purse strings starting to tighten in certain parts of the country, only those well established and the cashflow rich will survive.

[Danielb]

You make it sound like it’s not worth doing, I’ve read a lot on marketing, the only problem I’ve got is not knowing what to charge etc. I do not want to make a lot of money, just enough to live off.

[big-all]

ok try a different tack

2 jobs you think you can do
work out how long it would take you at your hourly rate then phone round all the handy men/carpenters in your area[the competition] ask what they would charge and how long it will take

in general carpentry is not well paid untill you get a reputation then its 80% ok money then 20% slightly better money and more enjoyable /challenging tasks

[lockie]

If you work out everything i listed to begin with you will know how much to charge, only you can do this as only you know what you want to earn to live off.

You will also know about the 80-20 rules as you have read up on marketing so concentrate on targeting to 20% once you have worked out the longterm worth of the customers your going to market to.

[joiner_uk]

You can price by an hourly rate of £10 - £30 depending on how good you are and how much work you get done in 1 hour