J
Joe_b87
Like a lot of people at the moment im getting undercut, nothing new in this but I was wondering what everybody else is charging for labour? I work on £30 per hour depending on the job, the bigger stuff i work out a price.
B
bigbaddave
In this day in age everyone wants to know the price.. Only the regulars let me work and then bill them to be fair..
S
stuartcourt
Hello mate I am in Poole near Bournemouth and I charge between 25 and 30 an hour or work my price out on that. After driving to look at job and an hour at least out of your time, then time spent on quote + invoice not to mention your money for materials and then the wait for payment it works out a pretty good price.
J
Joe_b87
I agree that's why im reluctant to drop, wanted to know whether I was way over the top or not. Getting good repeat business but when the phone rings the first thing im hearing is " hi how much would it be for...."
M
MDJ
The rate will depend on your customers, if your sat at home then in the current climate your too expensive even if in reality your costs are correct, when times improve £30.00 per hour will be fine, at the moment with hardly anything about and large companies charging silly rates to keep their guys working rather than having them washing vans you need to lessen your rate if you want to work, if not then stick with the £30.00 and something will come along eventually at that cost but you may not work much. In the domestic sector outside London at the moment £30.00 per hour will be the top whack and you will find £20.00-£25.00 more realistic, my view is to keep the rate low and add 15% onto materials which may get you more work for now. There are guys getting work at £30.00 per hour no doubt, but not many at the moment, I find rates fluctuate with the current climate more than I have seen before, thats the state the country is in, if you have a mortgage and need to work then you can't charge £30.00 per hour and expect to be really busy unless your lucky, I would suggest you try at £22.00 for the next Job you price with a mark up on materiales and see where that gets you.
Mike
Mike
O
Octopus
In which case you have a marketing decision to make. Lower you price a little to get your boot in the door....BUT don't do it all the time else you will be a very busy, poor person.
I charge what I charge and this is justified by the quality of the service the customer gets from either myself or anyone else working for me and also how much I need to earn to maintain a profitable business (this will vary from area to area). I have many happy customers, none of whom have queried the price and my business has never had a bad review. Another reason I am happy to charge what I charge is because I have never got involved with customers no matter what sector where cost is their sole driving force when it comes to decision making. Every quote we provided and in every tender process we have entered into we have outlined that we provide value for money and in many occasions we have been one of the most expensive, often the most expensive and we have still won jobs.
Only you can decide what your services are worth. I have a good friend who charges half what I do but his mortgage is paid, his kids aren't at home anymore, he's not bothered about extravagent holidays and cars and he's happy to do the job he loves in order to supplement his state pension. That said, his quality of workmanship is no less than mine so there are other factors to take into account but all in all, he isn't competing for jobs on the same scale and is more at home changing Mrs Jones' consumer unit than quoting for large scale refurb projects.
Ultimately, you set your rate and justify it by the quality of work you provide and how much you need to earn to put food on the table. I've seen a fair few £150 CU changes and so called sparks charging £15ph and let's just say, we've made a fair few bob off the back of their shoddy workmanship over the years (not that I'm tarring every £15ph spark with the same brush, like I said, there are occasionally other factors at play).
One piece of advice I will give you however is when you come up with a price stick to it! There's nothing worse in my opinion than a business offering a client a price and when it is questioned it gets dropped. It makes for an unprofessional approach to dealing with a clients procurement as all it does is make it look like you over valued your services in the first place thus making you look like a rip off merchant!
Best of luck getting the work in bud!
Only you can decide what your services are worth. I have a good friend who charges half what I do but his mortgage is paid, his kids aren't at home anymore, he's not bothered about extravagent holidays and cars and he's happy to do the job he loves in order to supplement his state pension. That said, his quality of workmanship is no less than mine so there are other factors to take into account but all in all, he isn't competing for jobs on the same scale and is more at home changing Mrs Jones' consumer unit than quoting for large scale refurb projects.
Ultimately, you set your rate and justify it by the quality of work you provide and how much you need to earn to put food on the table. I've seen a fair few £150 CU changes and so called sparks charging £15ph and let's just say, we've made a fair few bob off the back of their shoddy workmanship over the years (not that I'm tarring every £15ph spark with the same brush, like I said, there are occasionally other factors at play).
One piece of advice I will give you however is when you come up with a price stick to it! There's nothing worse in my opinion than a business offering a client a price and when it is questioned it gets dropped. It makes for an unprofessional approach to dealing with a clients procurement as all it does is make it look like you over valued your services in the first place thus making you look like a rip off merchant!
Best of luck getting the work in bud!
M
MDJ
I have been doing this a long time M8 and never price the same job at the same price twice in a row at the moment, I charge £35.00 per hour for Minor industrial works and £30.00 for commercial thats steady and my bread and butter, But domestic is up and down depending on the current climate at the time, your rate of £30.00 is a good and proper rate no doubt, but you may need to drop it for a month or two or longer until things buck up in the summer (if it happens) and remember if you do drop your rate to get a foot in the door you can add a bit on your material mark up to get some money back, with insurance and schemes and runing a van times are tough at the moment, you may just have to lessen the rate to survive for now fella and judge each job individually I feel your pain.
M
MDJ
Rollocks, stick to it with your regular customers yes, but if your sat on your --- at home with a £100,000 mortgage then sticking at £30.00 per hour at the moment won't pay the bills, he may have to lessen his rate at the moment to earn a living, your okay, like me you have a client base and do commerial and industrial works, think along the lines of a guy with no work or client base and bills.
Still lv U by the way D skelton :tt1:
I totally get you, however I have to say that I do things differently. I am a businessman at the end of the day, the fact that I am an electrician and enjoy the job being an electrician entails is purely a bonus. It's all well and good having all the skills in the world but if you haven't got the work to put those skills in to practice then what's the point? I have plenty of work and view myself as successful (in a totally not blowing smoke up my own a$$ sort of way lol), a massive part of this I put down to being able to offer a service that other electricians can't provide. I didn't build a client base to put my skills to work by being cheap, I built one by being the best! If all you want to be known for is the fact that you operate cheaply then that is all you will ever be known for as word of mouth will spread, "Yeah, use him, he's WELL cheap innit". Well that's all well and good if all you want to do is pay the bills but when the bills are paid and you want to start living, try upping your prices when all you have is a reputation as a cheap spark! When that rep dissappears, you're back to square one ain't ya!
I have two rules when it comes to running a business; 1 - Be ruthless, and 2 - Be the best! (Utter cheese I know, but...)
I find it very easy when quoting for work to be able to say to a client what other electricians who come to quote are likely to say and that if they do it is complete rubbish. I find it easy to say to a client that when other sparks come to quote for work to check all their qualifications whilst spreading mine out on the table knowing full well most others won't have anything like what I do. I find it very easy to show a client that unlike most we are an ethical business, we have an actual commitment to the continuing progression of all apprentices we employ and that we don't just use cheap labour, we pay well and we actually use fully qualified sparks who truely care about the work they do and aren't just worried about clock off time. I find it easy to say to prospective customers that if they are looking for cheap, choose someone else, but if they are looking for the best, then I'm their guy. Finally, I find it easy to confront and expose other electricians who aren't up to the task! Done in the right way this can also be very profitable (or at least I have found this to be the case).
To sum up the point I'm trying to make, if you're looking to pay the bills drop your price. If you're looking to build a business, stick to your guns, be ruthless and offer your customers a service many can't match by showing them a true commitment to being the best! I'm under no illusion that it will be tougher in the short term but it will definitely pay off in the long run.
That's my two cents anyway
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M
MDJ
I totally get you, however I have to say that I do things differently. I am a businessman at the end of the day, the fact that I am an electrician and enjoy the job being an electrician entails is purely a bonus. It's all well and good having all the skills in the world but if you haven't got the work to put those skills in to practice then what's the point? I have plenty of work and view myself as successful (in a totally not blowing smoke up my own a$$ sort of way lol), a massive part of this I put down to being able to offer a service that other electricians can't provide. I didn't build a client base to put my skills to work by being cheap, I built one by being the best! If all you want to be known for is the fact that you operate cheaply then that is all you will ever be known for as word of mouth will spread, "Yeah, use him, he's WELL cheap innit". Well that's all well and good if all you want to do is pay the bills but when the bills are paid and you want to start living, try upping your prices when all you have is a reputation as a cheap spark! When that rep dissappears, you're back to square one ain't ya!
I have two rules when it comes to running a business; 1 - Be ruthless, and 2 - Be the best! (Utter cheese I know, but...)
I find it very easy when quoting for work to be able to say to a client what other electricians who come to quote are likely to say and that if they do it is complete rubbish. I find it easy to say to a client that when other sparks come to quote for work to check all their qualifications whilst spreading mine out on the table knowing full well most others won't have anything like what I do. I find it very easy to show a client that unlike most we are an ethical business, we have an actual commitment to the continuing progression of all apprentices we employ and that we don't just use cheap labour, we pay well and we actually use fully qualified sparks who actually care about the work they do and aren't just worried about clock off time. I find it easy to say to prospective customers that if they are looking for cheap, choose someone else, but if they are looking for the best, then I'm their guy. Finally, I find it easy to confront and expose other electricians who aren't up to the task! Done in the right way this can also be very profitable (or at least I have found this to be the case).
To sum up the point I'm trying to make, if you're looking to pay the bills drop your price. If you're looking to build a business, stick to your guns and be the best. I'm under no illusion that it will be tougher in the short term but it will definitely pay off in the long run.
That's my two cents anyway
Good Post Bud :yes: not many folk without contacts can build a business at the moment on £30.00 an hour though, we should start a thread about how to start a business in the trainee section I reckon, some very good points you have and I agree about most of them.
Shocked too say the least that everyone is posting their prices on here lol May aswell join in, i was saying a tenner-cheaper because it was easier in my original post, i do actually charge £7,549 and more at certain times when trying to price myself out the job when really busy but get the job anyway lol.
Maybe its just my area, because it's quite common to be charging £350k an hour here, and i've heard rumours from sparky mates that mr.x is charging even cheaper...we know who's at fault for the massive price drops - but lets not go their on absolutley every thread lol.
I've got a good client base + customers are happy with the work, recommendations get me by at the moment as pretty much 0 on the advertising since the crash. Things are going nice and dandy (touch wood) so i'll stick to my £7,549 even though some members have rightly said you can probably get abit more.
Agree with Mike though that the OP should drop his price, considerably (some 'qualified' numpties out there) just to get your foot in the door.
Maybe its just my area, because it's quite common to be charging £350k an hour here, and i've heard rumours from sparky mates that mr.x is charging even cheaper...we know who's at fault for the massive price drops - but lets not go their on absolutley every thread lol.
I've got a good client base + customers are happy with the work, recommendations get me by at the moment as pretty much 0 on the advertising since the crash. Things are going nice and dandy (touch wood) so i'll stick to my £7,549 even though some members have rightly said you can probably get abit more.
Agree with Mike though that the OP should drop his price, considerably (some 'qualified' numpties out there) just to get your foot in the door.
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M
MDJ
Your quite right, I dropped a clanger really, thought I would try to help, but I now regret it dear oh dear.
That was my original thought - why i didn't post my correct price to start with. Now the OP has got what he wanted i will edit my previous post and put a cheeky 7k in it's place.
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Yeah same lol, edit your previous post...i am. The OP has got what he wanted
I know £20 is too low, thats why i lied on my original post untill everyone started posting their real prices, and then i regretablly obliged...but murdoch saw me straight and i changed lol.
Im happy with my price structure at the moment, maybe am abit too low and why im palming work to mates but ohwell. Life's all good glenn. Off topic, you managed to get any work done with all that snow over your way? I've got literally none on the east coast, mental how much you wessies have had, proper snow like the older days lol.
O
Octopus
The key problem with this thread, is that people are so stupid that they don't include their location in their profile AND they simply don't realise that the rates will vary from town to town, suburb to suburb, county to county and country to country.
In all its a bit pointless..........
In all its a bit pointless..........
Who's to say who is expensive and who is cheap, surely supply and demand is the key factor, and unfortunately the area of the country you live in has a great bearing on this also. At the moment I have plenty of work on and with just the same amount of enquiries (he says touching his head), I never advertise and all work is through my existing customer base or word of mouth. As stated by D Skelton customer service is what will get you repeat business and not necessary being the cheapest, I am content at being know as reasonably priced rather than being to cheap or expensive, this works for me and that is how I will continue to operate until proven different.
Hant's you've got it sorted like many on here have - yes, a client base and recommendations are better than any advertising no doubt. However, the OP didn't have a client-base, thats why some have suggested considerably dropping the price he was quoting.
It's a dog-eat-dog trade. Once you've got the clientel you can be content, and not worry too much about price-fluctuation. However, some people are not as fortunate as many of us.
It's a dog-eat-dog trade. Once you've got the clientel you can be content, and not worry too much about price-fluctuation. However, some people are not as fortunate as many of us.
Haha honestly wasn't...i was thinking it can't be a good idea broadcasting your prices on a public-forum. Then to my dismay, everyone seemed to jump in head-first...and then: I regretablly, like a sheep, followed.
Lesson learnt
G
GLENNSPARK
well i have a busted ankle at the mo....so havn`t been able to do owt for a few weeks...lol..
bloody phones been ringing though for stuff to go see to...some ECRs and sorting out some fire damaged rooms at a house in bradford...
but cant get out to them at the mo...typical really....
I totally agree with you mate, hence I try not to count my chickens etc as unfortunately the a%*e can drop out of things at any time.
M
mamba
T
There is a thread in the business section of the forum, which you may want to cross ref with. It certianly looks like pricing is subject and flavour of the day. I think one can debate this all day and a lot of it has been covered.
Just remember from a marketing point there are 4 elements of the marketing Mix for any company be it BA - Apple M&S or us as a self employed electricians. The Marking Mix has 4 "P's" than when combined and mixed together will and should give you a healthy and profiatable business. The 4 P's in no order as they are all together as follows You have to provide a good PRODUCT with the right PROMOTION at the right PLACE and at the right PRICE. so Price is only one element of the marketing mix. Price is however very unique in this mix or in any business as it is the only element that brings in and produces revenue all the other represent costs. Pricing in general is not handled well by most and the most common mistakes is that pricing is not revised often enough and flexable enough to capitalise on market or present changes. So its your business you and you alone know what profit you need to make daily weekly and monthly go and make sure you have the right product [your skills and workmanship] promote & present that product in the right place and price your product to your market. Remember revenue and profit are 2 completly different entities. Anyone can have a good revenue turnover but the bottom line is is there a profit in the business??? Set yourself limits example you have just been called out to do a minor repair job you get there and it is an elderly couple and it is something really small Fuse blown. repair it and suggest a new board and assure them it will not be expensive. have a look at your diary when a day is clear you going to be at home watching daytime TV yes we all have done it, book it in do it for a labour cost of say £80 - £100 you take home a profit and most importantly when you get back in your van you will feel you have earnt a million pounds you will be feeling so good about youeself and helping out someone that is flexable pricing.
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