Quote me

[Staffie]

Just give me a rough quote for this job!

It's on a dairy farm 7 mile from home. I've done a few jobs already, I gave him my quote and he was pretty shocked at my price and thought it seemed expensive? I thought I was pretty cheap, and could quite happily stuck another 200 quid on it!

Let's see who gets the job. I'll post my price a little later on...

Materials;

1x400w hqi flood
1x250hqi flood
2x400w high bay son-e (second-hand crompton's)
1x70w twin anti corrosive hf batten fitting
50m of 2.5 3 core sy
50m of 2.5 3 core swa
1x resin joint kit
1x masterseal light switch
2 bags of cleats
M10 nuts, bolts, anchor eye bolts etc

Labour;

* High bays will be hung on chain, 5m up in a barn, cable run to last fitting about 30m
* 400w hqi on front of barn at the apex about 6m up, cable run about 10m
* 250w hqi at rear of barn at the apex about 6m up, cable run around 30m
* Floodlights will be fixed by drilling into 5mm steel trusses
* remove old batten fitting and replace with new twin, and re cable, cable run from switch about 7m
* joint existing swa for 400w hqi with around 7m of cable, already connected to existing switch
* Remove old 500w TH fitting, already connected to switch, this circuit will be used for the son's but new cable used and run about 30m

This job requires a cherry picker which I have access to (free of charge to me) ex e-on landie

 

[poppypiesdad]

Think about the poor farmers ,i have worked for loads but one was a pain ,new tractors everywhere, new landy for himself,wife had a nearly new mr2, everytime i quoted for a job and got it he would argue the bill at the end EVEN EVEN after a written quotation had been given to him always wanted wanted money off,had me and another spark on the yard at the same time trying to get the price down between us , we both walked away ,and hes not just tight with tradesmen as well .....

Never drop your prices it will get you eventually

Jamie

 

[pennywise]

Pub landlords are the same

 

[flukey]

Think about the poor farmers ,i have worked for loads but one was a pain ,new tractors everywhere, new landy for himself,wife had a nearly new mr2, everytime i quoted for a job and got it he would argue the bill at the end EVEN EVEN after a written quotation had been given to him always wanted wanted money off,had me and another spark on the yard at the same time trying to get the price down between us , we both walked away ,and hes not just tight with tradesmen as well .....

Never drop your prices it will get you eventually

Jamie

good advice there, never under sell yourself

 

[pennywise]

and friends and family double the price

 

[UNG]

Going in cheap to get in with a customer never works, once you have set the rate it is difficult to increase it to make a decent margin and recover some of what you have lost being so cheap in the first place

I had a customer who I did alot of high (rope) access radio installation work for who had the same theory and for some jobs wanted them done at cost or less to get in with clients, I nearly always refused we did few cheap to test it, it never produced any repeat business yet the jobs costed at the true rate did get repeat business but we did get a reputation for doing difficult installs and a quality job

With regard to the picker being free it will still need it's 6 monthly LOLER check and that doesn't come free so there must be some cost to it

As you point out some of the kit you are installing is second hand so what warranty is the customer expecting you to provide if something fails if it has to be repaired or replaced at your expense then your price is certainly very thin on profit

And I have never met a poor farmer only farmers who claim to be poor

 

[Phil]

the cheap jobs i have had in the past have always been the worst ones most grief and the customers are a real pain in the bottom. i go in now with a price they take it or leave it, in most cases they do take it 95% the ones who don`t want it doing would probably have been more hassle than they were worth by past experience. i am not expensive and certainly no the cheapest but i am fair don`t rip people off so they gets what they pay for.

 

[Staffie]

My only conciliation is my mate would come over and help out, I just cover his fuel. He's at college at the moment and is grateful of the experience!

You're dead right about going in to cheap, once you start with a customer there's no going back!

I've only been on my own about 18 months, I find pricing jobs extremely difficult at times, as you've seen! There's a lot of people out there at the moment with no work and willing to work for very little, the way things are, something is better than nothing! Unfortunately, this 'mind set' is generally keeping our profit margins lower. I know people who would have quoted less for this job, like a mate of mine who did a domestic board change for £150...

I know with my mate on-board, I will complete this job in one day and make around £300.

Making money on materials seems almost impossible?! I'm starting a 3 bedded new build on Monday, the customer is having 53 low energy 11w down lights. We were charging him £15 per fitting (excluding labour) We were paying £9.50 per unit, he's gone on the net and found the same fitting and is buying them himself for £10.50, I despair at times I really do!

I have another customer, whom for most of the time buys his own materials, I put the labour in at about £20-25 per hour. It's impossible to make anything else! The other week I took a painter with me to quote him for painting out the factory offices. The painter told him the daily commute would be about 40 mile and he would have to make a small charge for fuel. The customer actually sat down, worked out how much his van did on average to the gallon, then worked out how much it would cost in fuel! The painter wanted £30 a week to cover the fuel costs, the customer told me it would only cost him about £4.74 a day to get on site....he never got the contract!

The problem is, most customers compare our hourly rate of pay with their own, or what they pay their employees. They fail to see that not only are they paying us for what we do, but also for our professional expertise and knowledge!

I'm starting to rant now so I'll stop!

Thanks for all your input, some food for thought....

 

[Graeme Harrold]

No point being a busy fool, quote right and stick to your guns, as soon as you discount, its a slippy slope. Its tough letting a job go on price, but you will get more respect as a tradesman as you can promote value for money rather than cheap and chearfull.........

remember the man who doubles his prices and loses half his clients is making the same mone with half the work