Pricing up for a new CU

[OnOff]

Even for a neighbour I would say

 

[Theorysparky]

'As a rule of thumb for neighbours base it on what the lady of the house looks like!'

some of my neighbours couldnt afford me then !!!!!!

 

[OnOff]

'As a rule of thumb for neighbours base it on what the lady of the house looks like!'some of my neighbours couldnt afford me then !!!!!!

PMSL :Applaud

 

[PC Electrics]

In my book

 

[matt.leung]

i charge

 

[hxsarge]

i always have a sneak peek in the cu when quoting if i spend ages doing it then just add it to the bill and tell the customer its a free quote! fitting a 60 quid BG split load bnq board just a few weeks back, for a split load board there not bad.

easy to see why people want them when they see 17th edition on the front rather than a 30 quid board and 10 rcbos at 25 quid a pop.

 

[Ash]

I charge

 

[Megaohm7]

That has got to be one of the daftest statements ever.....The biggest problem with this trade is tradesmen who have difficulty understanding fundamental concepts of business...

Marketing, advertising, promoting & selling your product and the everyday efficient management and running their business on a cost effective way.

When any person establishes a business they should take account of the existing supply and demand of the goods or services they are thinking of offering from competitors businesses.

Then build their own business plan costing structure etc.. to allow them to work within that enviroment.....

So some of the fundamental ground rules of Electrical work are:-

We have a free market in this country.

DIY electrical work is NOT illegal.

Part P building regs does allow DIY notifiable electrical work.

Other business in similar or related services are permitted to compete for your work.

Thousands of other businesses (large & small) DO manage to work successfully within this environment.

The common business models use in other sectors of the retail market also apply within the electrical world..

Golden Rule.... DIFFERENT BUSINESS MODELS ATTRACT DIFFERENT TYPES OF CUSTOMER!

So the Stack em high - Sell em cheap brigade (self service pound land / Home Bargain outlets etc..) are aiming for a different customer to some of the better Quality service outlets.

Some customers use both, others would not be seen dead in the other place....

Now.. Waitrose or Sainsburys etc.. could probably not match the price of washing liquid in poundland..

cuz their overheads are higher...

But Mr posh supermarket manager can't go moaning..

its not fair that people can buy washing up liquid from pound land or in bulk of the internet it makes it hard for me to sell my washing up liquid!!!

Electrical work is not much different... there are customers and tradesmen in the Stack-em-high sell em cheap box...

Others provide a better quality service....

Customers after a pound land bargain will probably not purchase from a better quality supplier.

Customers after cheap electrical work will be looking for a stack-em-high sell em cheap electrician...

But a quality electrician would most probably NOT be aiming for that type of customer anyway!!!

The big DIY stores have been around for years now....

They have NO obligation to help anyone other than their shareholders!!!

We as small traders either work around the systems that are there..

or pack up your tool box and go and be a gardener.. or decorator.. etc..

Any newly qualified sparks coming out of college also needs to do some business management training if they are wanting to work for themselves!

Personally I am not interested in the customers after a Stack-em high bargain...

a CU change for myself would have to be a starting price of

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

I think that I've been misunderstood here and there is nothing daft about my statement. I do run my own business and know that times are tough at the moment. I know about competition only too well and try to compete as best I can. When quoting for a job you know whats needed to comply with the current regs and this all adds up. So I quote a figure and state that any remedial work will be extra this is subject to satisfactory testing. It's up to the customer to then accept the quote or go with another quote, thats their right. These days most people want a good deal and if someone offers to fit it for them at

 

[batty]

The thing is though B&Q etc are like your Tescos they may be cheap on certain things but they certainly are not cheap on other things look at the price of the MCB's and RCBO's they certainly make a profit on those. My previous job was ruined by supermarkets so I really don't have time for the Sheds and superstores.

B & Q

 

[Megaohm7]

The bit that was daft from your opening post was the last sentence.....Because it is an irrelevant red-herring in any consideration about how much a customer is or isn't willing to pay for a CU change.

Large scale DIY outlets started appearing many many years ago...

B&Q 1969, Wickes 1972, Homebase 1979, Focus early 1980's

and Part P only came in to effect Jan 2005.. a mere 7 years...

There have always been 'electricians/builders/cowboys/kitchen fitters/etc..' (* delete as appropriate)..

willing to do a weekend or evening job for cash in hand..., no paperwork.. No TAX paid!

If you were a professionally trading spark before Jan 2005...

you should still have had copies of regs books, accurate meters, issued electrical certificates etc..

And you still had the cheapo boys competing for your work...!

The real additional costs for scheme membership & Part-P compliance on top of trading professionally can't be much over