I just registered with your site. It looks great. I am having a very tough time estimating jobs. I do not have a problem with materials. It's the labor. How long will each job take and what should my hourly rate be? I've been in the car biz most of my life. If I need to know how much to charge someone for a water pump on a Ford Taurus I can look up the "flat rate time" in a Chilton or Motors manual and there it is. I can do quality work but can not judge time for different jobs. I looked over Home Tech Information Systems sample but it just gives dollar amounts which I didn't feel comfortable to begin with ($160.00 to plunge a toilet!). Is there any guide that is similar to what I described in the car biz? If not how do you come up with the correct time for the wide variety of jobs i need to estimate? I am honest, give excellent quality in my work (sometimes being a bit too long on a job because of this), know how to advertize, am reliable and have my own tools. I feel I could really make a good go of this if only I could confidently give an accurate estimate of time. Please help.
Hi Rick,
Thank you for your compliments and for your excellent question. In my
opinion you should charge by the hour until you get more comfortable with
estimating your time. You'll always get paid for the time you spend and
very few customers will object if you frame it correctly.
Handyman work is not the exact science that the car repairs are. There are
lots of variables on each job. When you look at a job, try to guess how
long the job will take in general terms. For example, will it take you all
day or just a half of a day? Or for smaller jobs...will it take 2 hours or
3? Based on your best guess, which will improve over time, for the 2-3 hour
job tell the customer that you think it will take two hours or possibly 3
but certainly not more than 4 hours to complete. If your hourly rate is $50
you should say that this would cost him between $100 and $150 dollars
depending on what challenges you run into along the way. Tell him also that
it certainly won't be more than $200. Then ask if that will be acceptable.
If you complete the job in 2.5 hours your customer will be thrilled because
he was properly prepared for more. If it actually takes you 4.5 hours you
can always discount the number of hours that you charge to stay within the
maximum that you quoted. Chalk the difference up to experience. After all,
you're the boss!
The most important thing is to continually communicate with the homeowner if you run into difficulties. And yes, $160 to clear a toilet is highway
robbery. There are lots of appreciative customers out there for an honest
handyman!
Hope this is of some help,
Bob
PS. If you are so inclined, purchase my book called "Become a Handyman - A Quick Start Guide" at http://handyman-quickstart.com/
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