Hourly/daily rate calculation

[Voltimax]

Hi guys,

Just wondering how others calculate their hourly/daily rate. Obvious that it's cost of living+overheads+profit/hours worked in the year. However I was wondering what hours per anum people allow. I have heard as many as 1880 and as low as 1400.

What would you say is reasonable considering that some time is spend driving and picking up gear from wholesalers, not to mention time spent on the phone and in the office etc.

 

[philbas]

My take on this, not from a sparky point of view, but from the point of view of someone that has been self employed.

Do the maths.

Days in a year = 365 (ignore leap years ).

You want weekends off. subtract 104 days = 261 days left.

You want bank holidays off, subtract 8 days = 253 days left.

You want to work 8 hours a day 253 * 8 = 2024 hours.

Now the big one, what percentage of your hours are you earning money from.

Lets say you spend 25% of your time doing paperwork, quotes, traveling (anything your not getting paid for) etc.

That leaves 75% of your time actually earning 2024 * 0.75 = 1518 earning hours.

Any of the factors above affect the calculation.

You want 400 days in a year changes it.

You dont need holidays it changes again.

But the big one is the percentage of productive time.

If you have long term contracts that give you 40 hours a week then you have 2028 hours a year, on the other hand if you spend half your time doing non earning work you only have 1014 hours a year.

Thats how I would work it out, others may have differnt views.

 

[ProDave]

In real life it's even simpler than that.

You can't charge more than any of the other local sparky's, or else you will never have any work. So no matter how much you would like to earn per hour, you can only earn what the market will bear where you live.

Up here that's

 

[philbas]

Agree 100%

But

You have 3 situations now

1) What do I want to earn to sustain my life style, pay my mortage etc.

2) How many hours do I have in a day to earn that money.

3) What is the maximum I can charge and still get enough work to satisfy 1) & 2).

Very hard to decide.

 

[Nicky Tesla]

if you get other people in to do some work or labour for you, then make sure you charge the customer a little more than they cost you. This way, the more people you have on the job, the more you are earning per hour.

 

[Lurch]

Agree 100%But

You have 3 situations now

1) What do I want to earn to sustain my life style, pay my mortage etc.

2) How many hours do I have in a day to earn that money.

3) What is the maximum I can charge and still get enough work to satisfy 1) & 2).

Very hard to decide.

Everyone who is self employed has this issue constantly. It isn;t something you can just decide on and then earn

 

[bengie]

Up here that's

 

[Voltimax]

Basically, there is no answer to this question.

Well I wasn't after a definitive answer. I know what I charge, I've been self employed for almost 10 years. I'm just interested in how other people work it out. There is no one way that fits all, it's good to know how others do it and then review the way you do it using that information

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

In real life it's even simpler than that.You can't charge more than any of the other local sparky's, or else you will never have any work. So no matter how much you would like to earn per hour, you can only earn what the market will bear where you live.

Up here that's

 

[Cirrus]

its good to see there's still a healthy north/south devide :innocent the rates down here are no higher than that generally despite cost of living being a bit higher(house prices, council tax etc), infact i charge the same generally but sometimes less for friends of family etc

Not true IMO. I live in the South West and rates of up to

 

[bengie]

really? obviously me and my mates are far too cheap then!

 

[a12jpm]

[No message]

 

[binky]

Not true IMO. I live in the South West and rates of up to

 

[NozSpark]

I was told once that you need to earn enough in 9 months of the year to give you a decent pay for the whole year...

i.e.

9 months @40hrs/wk (or whatever) WORKING and earning

3 months NOT WORKING and not earning

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

I was told once that you need to earn enough in 9 months of the year to give you a decent pay for the whole year...i.e.

9 months @40hrs/wk (or whatever) WORKING and earning

3 months NOT WORKING and not earning

In concurrences with Noz's point above....

Another point I was told when commencing self employment was...

If you are employed earing