Pricing and Timing

[ppelec100]

So I just started out recently and I’m struggling with what to price myself at. It’s worth noting I live in the east London area and I’m looking to cover mostly north, east and maybe south east London and Essex. Possibly central London if the price is right of course.

I’m thinking of charging £70 an hour,
Looking to work half days 4 hours, full days 8 hours plus lunchtime probably 8.5hours
£210 for half a day,
£350 for a full day

The way I’ve worked it is £210= 70 x 4 - 1 hour as I don’t need to travel as much.
£350= 210 x 2 - 1 hour again as I’m only travelling once for the day.

But again this might not always work as the further out I travel I will need to raise the rate somehow either by increasing the day rate or adding on an extra hour or half hour.

It’s also worth noting that I don’t have many clients, my experience is not extremely high though I do always do a proper job no matter how long it ends up taking me even if I have research and reading up to do. Some people are going to say these prices are quite low I reckon but the only reason I’ve put it at these prices is so that it’s not too low to draw in all the cheap price hagglers and end up with a line full of nuisance customers but it’s not too high where I can still get in the decent customers who won’t cause a fuss about paying. In time once I’m super busy and feel it’s time to up the rates I will to maybe 80 or 90 an hour.

I’ve also got 33 downlights to measure out, cut, first and second fix soon if I get the job. House has had all carpets lifted, floorboards exposed for me to lift. Loft only has insulation in. It’s about 30mins away from my house. I’m thinking of pricing it on 5 days x full day rate + materials with 20% markup?

Is there any formula you guys used when first deciding out your prices?

Do you charge different rates the further out you go or do you just add on additional half hours or hours for travel?

How would you guys price this downlight job? Would you charge per downlight or day rate too?

 

[davesparks]

I’m thinking of charging £70 an hour,
Looking to work half days 4 hours, full days 8 hours plus lunchtime probably 8.5hours
£210 for half a day,
£350 for a full day

So for 4 hours work you are going to charge for 3 hours at £70/hour?
And for 8 hours work you are going to charge for 5 hours at £70/hour?

Why are you giving the customer so many free hours?

 

[davesparks]

. But say for this job where I’m most likely going to be there for the whole week I could keep it at a lower day rate/ weekly rate if that makes sense?

No it doesn't make sense, if you have worked out that you need £70/hour to cover your overheads and pay you a fair income then that is what you charge. Reducing your rate for being there longer is not going to pay you that income and will l, if taken to it's extreme, result in you working on the biggest jobs for free.

 

[LukeD]

No chance a client is getting materials for cost. There is time and travel to get them.This is to be paid for . Depending on the client... might be 20-30% some a LOT More !! Never ever go in LOW and never offer discount for cash etc etc . You work on YOUR TERMS .They either accept or not .BUt more and more of the public have now got lower standards and happy for a semi ok job cash in hand etc . Dont work for them .

 

[MDJ]

I’m thinking of charging £70 an hour,

When I ran my business I use to times the rate I wanted to pay myself by 110 percent to allow for holiday pay,, sick pay, employers national insurance contribution and running the van, so if you want 200 pounds a day purely for an example you charge 420, it depends on what you want to earn. then there is the local area rates most companies charge where you need to be competitive, if you work 10 hours a day at your rate of 70 pounds you will be charging the customer 700 pounds.

In my opinion unless in London this is expensive, that said I believe we sparks are under paid so probably realistic, you need to find out the going rates in your area, I would suggest around 55-60 the rate most firms charge up north and 60-70 in the south and 90 plus in London, you will soon find out if your rates are wrong if you get too much work or not much work, give 70 a go mate and see how it pans out.

 

[pc1966]

When I ran my business I use to times the rate I wanted to pay myself by 110 percent to allow for holiday pay,, sick pay,

I guess you mean +110%?

If you are self-employed so are running the business you need to be thinking around this, i.e. charge double what your pay will cost. You have various overheads to cover as well as things like sick-pay and holiday time that others take for granted, and potentially quiet periods of no work (even if just parts of days you can't sensibly fit a job in to).

On materials I would say go with the well-known prices, or not far off, to avoid arguments. If you can get some stuff cheaper via wholesale place then nice and dandy. Don't get in to customer-supplied stuff if at all possible as a lot of the times they will get it wrong or go for some utterly crap brand that folks on here would avoid. Sometimes make exceptions, e.g. artisanal lights they found in some specialised supplier, but make it clear you don't offer warranty on them.

 

[nicebutdim]

210%

Come on guys we had to prove a basic understanding of mathematics to get into this trade

 

[MDJ]

I guess you mean +110%?

yes

 

[MDJ]

I guess you mean +110%?

If you are self-employed so are running the business you need to be thinking around this, i.e. charge double what your pay will cost. You have various overheads to cover as well as things like sick-pay and holiday time that others take for granted, and potentially quiet periods of no work (even if just parts of days you can't sensibly fit a job in to).

On materials I would say go with the well-known prices, or not far off, to avoid arguments. If you can get some stuff cheaper via wholesale place then nice and dandy. Don't get in to customer-supplied stuff if at all possible as a lot of the times they will get it wrong or go for some utterly crap brand that folks on here would avoid. Sometimes make exceptions, e.g. artisanal lights they found in some specialised supplier, but make it clear you don't offer warranty on them.

I ran a business for years and made a lot of money, I knew what i was doing, my comments were my views to help the OP, I hope it helps

 

[pc1966]

I ran a business for years and made a lot of money, I knew what i was doing, my comments were my views to help the OP, I hope it helps

Apologies, after my query about 110% the rest of my comments were intended for the OP.

 

[UNG]

For me day rate pricing is when you are working labour only as a subbie on fixed days

Installing X number of downlights for a customer doesn't fall into that category for me it's X downlights will take Y hours if that fits into 3 or 4 slighty longer days then that is what I will work as working ridgidly to 8 hours rarely works as once you have the tools set up it is a case of is it worth working an extra hour or 2 or do you finish early that day it can also fit in better with how much time is spent travelling or more likely these days stuck in traffic

In the case of the OP the other question is how much the customer will pay for you to gain the experience you obviously need, reminds me of a conversation I had many years ago with a locksmith I know he had just come back from a job opening a safe and the customer had moaned at the £100 charge when it only took him 20 minutes his response was to start shutting the door on the safe the customer stopped him and paid he pointed out to the customer the first time he was called to open that type of safe it took him nearly 5 hours and the customer was only charged £100 now having opened a good number of these safes he could do it in 20 minutes. So it may be the OP has to invest some time in himself and reap the benefits later

 

[littlespark]

After fitting out the first room of downlights.... i expect him to get a bit speedier at fitting them


There is so many unknowns to price at this stage. Older house? the floors could be filled with deafening... lathe and plaster ceilings?

Attic could be stacked full, never mind the rooms.

rcd protection on the circuits?