newbie needs help pricing

[airconguy1]

hi all thanks for looking and any helf in advance,basically ive just gone ltd and need a few guidelines on rates in north west england eg mileage,day rates,hourly rates,callout charge any help would be appreciated dont wanna go in too cheap

[install monkey]

look at your operating costs- liability insurance, cost of running ur vehicle inc business insurance, look at your expected hourly rate,company hourly rates in nw are around 32-35 quid an hour, our gaff charge no travel allowance but 45quid admin fee for each job that covers the fuel- we only charge for time on site for contractual customers- also our prison only pay 50quid for a weeks call out- its a fine line between being too cheap and struggling to stay afloat and being too expensive and only getting a few jobs- good luck

[monkey spanners]

What IM said, also could phone round some local companies and ask them what their callout fees etc are.

Won't help with how to price parts but will stop you undercutting labour too much and ruining the job for everyone or being too expensive and losing your house.

Most people start a bit cheap, to get customers and because they don't realise how much it cost to run a business. Then as work increases and they realise they can't afford to buy food they put prices up. Good luck!

[airconguy1]

i did a emergency callout to northampton last night 19.30-02.30 plus 260 miles so would u say no callout fee £60 per hour plus 40p a mile is reasonable cheers

[airconguy1]

its double time on sat night yeh was gonna charge standard £30 ph until 5pm week days then time half after that and double time after 12 sat till 8am monday what you reckon

[install monkey]

spread your costs out- include the call out fee, as the call was logged out of normal working hrs- add mileage at 20-30p a mile- usually overtime rates are 38-40 quid an hour to the customer- the overtime paid to yourself is at the company's expense- will still come to the same costs but looks better to an accountant

[monkey spanners]

Depends what you are working on and the type of customers you have. Works out about twice what i would charge, not many customer want to pay £60ph for you to sit on your arse in a warm van. 50p/mile £30ph travel, £33ph worky, £36ph if call came in out of hours and customer a knob.

[The Viking]

Whatever you agreed with the customer before you went out?

Also, you haven't told us what you actually did...
£524 +VAT isn't too bad if you "saved" a computer hall from tipping over on a weekend.
If you cleared a drain at a hairdresser's then it is a slightly different matter.

Quite often I found that when customers are told about additional costs for out of hours attendance they are all of a sudden able to wait until normal working hours. This is one reason why it is important to agree on costs with the customer before you jump in the van. (Not to mention that it is easier to get them to pay up if you got some sort of agreement, that includes pricing structure, in place before you attend site)

There are some good advice in the posts above.
First you should look at all your costs, add what profit you want and then divide it by the hours you are likely to be able to charge for. (Remember, as self employed a lot of your time might be non chargeable, like when you are looking at jobs and pricing them or just trying to sell yourself)
Then you have to look at what the competition charges and decide at what level you want to place yourself.
If you are the dog's shiny bits with a lot of specialist knowledge when it comes to A/C work (and also got a lot of contacts) you will be able to charge more than if you just bashing splits in.

But whatever you decide your pricing structure will be, you will save yourself a lot of hassle when it comes to chasing payments if you get the customer to agree to your prices in advance. (preferable in writing, even if it is in an email).

Good luck with your new enterprise



.

[al]

If you want to build a solid customer base of regular paying customers you may allow up to 50% of your time as non chargeable for the first year (between quoting jobs, looking at jobs, building a relationship), best bet is to start with some sub contract work to generate income and give you time to look around.

One good customer can lead to multiple contracts, but it takes time to build trust and for customers to get to know you.

al