Sensible Price For A Alarm Service?

[SJBSecurityanddata]

New to running my own comany, whats a sensible fair price for a standard service visit to a new client? I took on a new client yesterday and on the first visit to their accenta G3 I had to reset to factory settings as it hadnt been used for 6 years and they had no codes! Plus someone had taken off a couple of sensors whilst decorating and blew the aux fuse in the panel! Whats the going rate lads, dont want to take the p@@@ but want to earn money?

 

[Blue Duck]

I always think: How much does it cost to leave the house?

How much do I need a day to Survive and to make a profit.?

I couldn't live on less than han £80 / Day van, fuel, insurances, scams & phone are paid for already but I live in London and Mrs Duck likes to spend money!

It's all relative.

 

[SJBSecurityanddata]

Thanks for that mate. Although I have been around a few years doing a bit on the side I have always been PAYE so it wasn't such an issue, but now every penny counts!

I don't want to take the pi@@  but also not take the pi@@ out of myself either, my missus is a hairdresser and keeps telling me I need to know what I'm worth!

 

[ProDave]

As already stated, you need to work out what hourly rate you need to earn to make a living.

It might be worth phoning another company pretending to be a customer to get an idea of what hourly rates other companies charge for similar work in your area.

 

[Essex1]

Welcome to the forum,

I do not think the advice on charging an hourly rate to make a living is good advice.  If you have decided to buy a Ferrari and are mortgaged up to the eyeballs by a house you cannot afford then your living wage may well be £250 per hour.  Good luck with that.  Your personal circumstances do not dictate the market.  Supply and demand does with a bit put aside for the quality of your service.  You need to separate your business from your personal finances then look at what companies are charging in your area.  Keep overheads low when starting out.  I am guessing you do not have an office so you should be able to undercut companies that do.  If you do not have employees you will not need EL insurance - another cost saving.  

If the going rate of your service does not cover your living then I am afraid you will need to find a better paid job because no one is going to pay you more than the going rate when you are starting out.  If anything you need to be undercutting the market to build up your portfolio of work.

Good luck.

 

[SJBSecurityanddata]

Welcome to the forum,

I do not think the advice on charging an hourly rate to make a living is good advice.  If you have decided to buy a Ferrari and are mortgaged up to the eyeballs by a house you cannot afford then your living wage may well be £250 per hour.  Good luck with that.  Your personal circumstances do not dictate the market.  Supply and demand does with a bit put aside for the quality of your service.  You need to separate your business from your personal finances then look at what companies are charging in your area.  Keep overheads low when starting out.  I am guessing you do not have an office so you should be able to undercut companies that do.  If you do not have employees you will not need EL insurance - another cost saving.  

If the going rate of your service does not cover your living then I am afraid you will need to find a better paid job because no one is going to pay you more than the going rate when you are starting out.  If anything you need to be undercutting the market to build up your portfolio of work.

Good luck.

I totally understand what you mean about lifestyle etc. Ive been doing some research but it seems to vary massively. An you are right I'm looking to balance between not being a charity but being recommended as a fair price and building clients.

 

[binky]

As I understand it £75 for an alarm service is normal, but you were fault finding, so I would suggest £30 an hour - see how much your garge mechanic/ other services you use charge, you can slo have  alook on-line, Which used to have average prices for jobs listing. Don't know if it is still there. Customer service also dictates what you can charge, being nice and polite etc etc helps a lot with keeping prices up!

 

[NozSpark]

My mate charges £60/hr for alarm work... Although he is SSAIB and does monitored alarms

I'd imagine his rates would be a little steep for a regular domestic system though

 

[SJBSecurityanddata]

As I understand it £75 for an alarm service is normal, but you were fault finding, so I would suggest £30 an hour - see how much your garge mechanic/ other services you use charge, you can slo have  alook on-line, Which used to have average prices for jobs listing. Don't know if it is still there. Customer service also dictates what you can charge, being nice and polite etc etc helps a lot with keeping prices up!

Cheers for that, that's about where I was sitting pricewise.

 

[binky]

I suppose they have few more tools, but ever felt you are under charging???

 

[SJBSecurityanddata]

£75 to walk in the door seems fairly fair if its arranged in advance and not 3 in the morning!

 

[kerching]

I suppose they have few more tools, but ever felt you are under charging???

Not if you look in my garage, workshop, store, barn, shed they haven't!!

I have different charge out rates

The Legal profession , Accountants ( apart from my own), Main Car dealerships etc have a far higher hourly rate than all the others!

And it is payment on completion.......no credit given

If they dont like my terms they can call someone else

Just saying

 

[kerching]

Yes but the MD at most factories has his Merc serviced every 2,4,6 months depending on his mileage, its normally a £50K+ car snd they don't wince at that, they then run a machine with no maintenance on a shoestring and when it all falls over and they get a £5K or more bill they nearly die (even though its there first bill for 10 years).......

EXACTLY!

.....and yet somehow they think it is your fault

 

[Lurch]

Yes but the MD at most factories has his Merc serviced every 2,4,6 months depending on his mileage, its normally a £50K+ car snd they don't wince at that, they then run a machine with no maintenance on a shoestring and when it all falls over and they get a £5K or more bill they nearly die (even though its there first bill for 10 years).......

And they'll tell you they are losing thousands per hour while it doesn't work, but you still have to fix it for under £50.

 

[binky]

29 years with no maintenance - don't make em like they used to :slap

Having spent 20 years in industry, that scenario is very familiar.

 

[kerching]

They also usually add that...."it has never actually worked properly since we bought it, but we have put up with it/got used to it"

Or our maintenance 'engineer' has had a look at it and says it is something and nothing but he is too busy to fettle,it!'

 

[Blue Duck]

Although I don't do any industrial I do get... there's never been a problem in 60 years until you turned up.

And ex council tenants who've not done a single thing to their property since 1982 and all of a sudden it's all your responsibility as you're the first idiot to turn up with screwdrivers!

 

[rugbyboy96]

I charge £45 for the first hour of a call out then its £20 per hour after that