How To Make A Living. ?

[green-hornet]

Ever wondered why at the end of the job you did not make as much as you thought you did?

I would bet it has happened to a lot of us, especially when you first start out.

One of the main problems and pitfalls is not knowing exactly what you need to just break even.

This is the lowest figure you have to earn from a job, without going into debt.

Remember this figure does not include any wages or profit.

It is boring and often labourous to do a business plan however when you have one it shows in detail where you can save money, where you need to invest more time or money and where you as a business need to improve.

There are costs to your business that are constant and will not change from month to month these costs are for things like insurance, road tax, office running costs ie lighting heating and staff.

Then there are variable costs these would be things like fuel,wear and tear of tools , and van etc.

Remember if you do not put plans in place to replace old or damaged tools when they do go you have to find the money to replace out of other funds.

Example

Van hire/lease

 

[Apache]

Nice post

Think it's important to stress that you need to work 8 hours everyday to earn your

 

[WarrenG]

Great post!

Just like to add that you would need to take out any holidays you have booked from your hours and of course the usual annual holidays such as bank holidays. Also take a percentage out for being sick (just in case!), say a week - 40 hours maybe.

Example 40 hours a week x 52 weeks = 2080 hrs

Take away:

2 week holiday = 80 hrs

Bank Hols etc = 80 hrs (say 10 days)

Days sick = 40 hrs (say 1 week on the safe side)

Total = 200 hrs

2080 - 200 = 1880 hrs working hrs.

An as other posts.

 

[batty]

And if you work for builders the amount you probably won't get paid.

 

[Apache]

Great post! Just like to add that you would need to take out any holidays you have booked from your hours and of course the usual annual holidays such as bank holidays. Also take a percentage out for being sick (just in case!), say a week - 40 hours maybe.

My numbers in the post above are based on 48 weeks a year giving you 4 weeks for holiday, day sick etc

I should have said that

 

[green-hornet]

Good points WarrenG.

I would like this to be discussed in this manner as I hope it will get you all thinking of the costs that you often forget to pass on.

For instance imagine quoting for a job but have neglected to include the costs of things like screws, grommets, earth sleeving and wall plugs. If you have not included them they come out of your profits, if there is little or no profit it comes out of your wages.

Its a fact of life that at the moment getting it right is very hard.

 

[L Plate]

Good points WarrenG.I would like this to be discussed in this manner as I hope it will get you all thinking of the costs that you often forget to pass on.

For instance imagine quoting for a job but have neglected to include the costs of things like screws, grommets, earth sleeving and wall plugs. If you have not included them they come out of your profits, if there is little or no profit it comes out of your wages.

Its a fact of life that at the moment getting it right is very hard.

I salute to all of you guys who shared your ideas , knowledge and experience ., considering myself as a part time student , a busy father of 3 but still trying to find a way to earn extra income , and by doing this , i'm sure sacrifice is always there , I am a part time chef ( used to be a full time ) but when i start my course last year i found out that its really hard for me and my wife to work both full time , reason why i dropped my working hours and at the same time i can secure my every tuesday for my college course .. for me it is really hard and i knew it from the start specially in apprenticeship side considering my age (38) :_| i feel i am too old to start for this course but my determination is too strong i cant resist it :^O , .. go back to the topic about business , sometimes it makes me asked myself when can i do this things like what you discussed on my own ( maybe i am just too ambitious ) but i do believed the saying goes "what you plant , is what you harvest " if we have V=IxR in ohms law , then i have my own S divided by TE = F ( Sacrifice divided by Time and Effort = FUTURE.. LOL , again I SALUTE TO ALL OF YOU SIR/MAM

 

[Subneural]

Of course all this becomes irrelevant when your twiddling your thumbs and your asked to quote a job where the customer tells you the lowest quote they've had yet and you need to do something to pay the mortgage so you beat it.

I agree that you should know your running costs though for when work does pick up.

 

[green-hornet]

Of course all this becomes irrelevant when your twiddling your thumbs and your asked to quote a job where the customer tells you the lowest quote they've had yet and you need to do something to pay the mortgage so you beat it.I agree that you should know your running costs though for when work does pick up.

I have been in business for myself and worked for others for over 21 years.

I have been undercut more times than I can remember, I have won all my contracts by undercutting my competitors.

I walk away and if needed would ask for a mortgage holiday,reduce my weekly shopping bill, walk to the shops than go in at a price that leaves me with a negative earning.

People who do cheap work will always be cheap and dodgy,and most dont stay in business.

 

[Andy™]

i find it depends on what work you do as to how much you can charge aswell. some jobs take similar time to complete, and similar price in materials, but some are 'more complicated' and customer expects it to cost more than other jobs

 

[jl-heating]

i have various excel sheets for quoting on jobs etc email/pm me if you want them by email.

i odnt know if they will help anyone but they do look very good .. i found them on a disc i have last night lol..

 

[Lee321]

i have various excel sheets for quoting on jobs etc email/pm me if you want them by email. i odnt know if they will help anyone but they do look very good .. i found them on a disc i have last night lol..

lets have a look

[email protected]

Guiness Drink

 

[jl-heating]

after so many pm`s here is a few links ..

Standard Prices Costing Sheet.

Site LabourCost Calculator.

hsepolicy

periodic inspection check sheet

any problems let me know..

again any problems admin feel free to delete as appropriate.

 

[Lee321]

:^O i thought you had costs in it

 

[jl-heating]

no u add ur own costs. every one has different outlays and overheads.

 

[russ9898]

Thanks for that JL. It is very good of you to share your costing sheets Im just about to have a butchers at them

 

[jibspark]

In light of my lack of ability to quote correctly and GH's good business advice i have made a spreadsheet to calculate final profit etc for individual jobs. The workbook has been designed to be used for each job, but you can list several items of work for one particular job.

there are 2 sheets in the workbook, one is the initial calculation, the other is for profit and loss.

could someone give it a dummy run and see if ive missed anything?

it does quite alot, all the formula cells are locked for now, when its finished i will upload it and provide the password. the only reason for locking the cells is to prevent anyone deleting formulas by mistake.

Estimate Calculator.zip

 

[Andy™]

just had a quick look and changed hourly rate to

 

[green-hornet]

I have just saved the download to file and will try it later for you see what I come up with

 

[jibspark]

the ###### is because the box isnt big enough, you wont be able to resize either as ther are locked. i must have over looked something - which is why i uploaded for testing. i will have a lookand sort it out. cheers for the feedback so far.