How much would you charge for minimal work?

[ultinator]

I was called to a house that was being redecorated (just one bedroom at present).

Client expressed concern over two dbl sockets hanging off surface boxes and a hole in the wall which appeared to be an old single socket that had been removed leaving the conductors exposed in connector blocks in a backbox.

I replaced the surface boxes as the threads had been snapped off and put a blank plate over the hole, it took a short amount of time, materials were a fiver and was only about a mile away.

I am aware it seems trivial as it was so little to do but how would you go about charging for something so minor? what would you have charged? I am SE, pretty much outskirts of london area.

Thank you please.

 

[Octopus]

most of my jobs are domestic repairs/faults, small installations etc. I repair appliances as well. I charge £36 per hour but when you work it out it soon seems very reasonable.

£36
minus vat
£30 m
inus overheads
£25
minus tax at the end of the year
£20
minus wages

brings it down to well short of £10 per hour profit

the days are gone of "just call it a tenner cos i've only been here 10 mins" as there is just as much paperwork and administration with small jobs as there is with large ones making small hour calls actually less profitable.

vat??????

 

[Tonkatoy27]

vat??????

Well exactly, I'm all too aware that if I'm pricing against non VAT registered companies then they will have a 20% advantage to start with.

Unfortunatly, my business employs me, my sister for all the paperworky/retail shop stuff, 2 shop staff and another electrician so If I pocket alot of cash illegally, there won't be enough to pay my staff wages at the end of the week, let alone little things like rent, insurance and tax bills...........

 

[ultinator]

Large commercial centers have trained personnel to guide to the solution of technical problems. Maybe, you should take a few photographs of the damage, to show them. I usually use a tape measure to make meticulous measurements, then write all info in a piece of paper, and go to the commercial center for buying. If i'm sure fixing will be hard for me; call the electrician, he'll only charge for his time.

I don't really understand what you mean here... why would I need pictures and commercial centres trained personnel to guide me to a solution? The problem was clear, a trip to the wholesalers was near, had all the right gear, shame bout the price though - I could have charged more dear.
But as previously mentioned it may help return work and word of mouth, cheap and cheerful. Then BOOM price gone up - now just cheerful

 

[Guitarist]

Most of my jobs are domestic repairs/faults, small installations etc. I repair appliances as well. I charge £36 per hour but when you work it out it soon seems very reasonable.

£36
minus VAT
£30 m
inus overheads
£25
minus tax at the end of the year
£20
minus wages

Brings it down to well short of £10 per hour profit

The days are gone of "just call it a tenner cos I've only been here 10 mins" as there is just as much paperwork and administration with small jobs as there is with large ones making small hour calls actually less profitable.

The big problem we have as professionals is the fact that "Dave down the pub" doesn't do paperwork, or pay tax...