How much should you charge? Hourly rates if you're self employed!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 มิ.ย. 2024
- Not sure how much you should charge? When you're first setting up in business as self employed, one of the first things to get right is knowing how much you should charge. Today we're discussing hourly rates in the UK and giving you some self employed small business tips to ensure you're charging enough. As per usual, this is all just my humble opinion but all too often I see folk setting up in business and going bust very quickly since they haven't anticipated the true running costs of even the smallest of businesses. There's an awful lot of folk out there not charging anywhere near enough for their time - hopefully this video will help.
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Hey everyone! You can now become a member of the Small Business Toolbox and support the channel directly. You get access to this hourly rates spreadsheet and loads more spreadsheet templates. A small investment for your growing business. Join here: smallbusinesstoolbox.uk/member/ 👍
McDonalds are seeing a huge surge of job applications since your video went live 😂
Lol - if only they had an affiliates scheme... 😂😂
awful food.....
@@gzcwnk MacDonalds....the classic failed business that sells awful food😂
Great video. Very easy to understand. Haven’t seen it laid out so simple and well before👍.
Wow, this was a real eye opener. Thank you for the video
Best video I could find before making a huge decision! Thank you so much for this demonstration and time!!!!
Watched this a few times now and also added into my own youtube video. Very very good video. Thanks so much.
This is an excellent video. Thank you so much for this. Great presentation and eye opener. 👍🏾👍🏾
Very interesting video. An eye-opener to many people. To both self employed people as well as their customers.
Excellent! I've never seen it spelled out so clearly for the layperson. Thank you!
Amazing help! Thank you so much for this tutorial!
Do you know you can earn a lot from trading forex, binary and investing in bitcoin... If you want to know how to get started email Mark at Jefferymark704@gmail. Com.
Remember time is money
These vids are so good m8 THANKYOU! im finally getting closer to hanging up my keys to my digger and getting growing my business off the ground. Your vids are so good to learn from and I really appeciate what you are doing here. #MakeTradesGreatAgain!😄
Thank you and great hashtag! 👍👌
Inspirational video. Thanks for this...
Great Video. Thanks
I am working in Scotland and I started my Handyman Business and see how it’s work. Can’t change hourly rate dipped of the work but Normally change for tipe of work.
Thanks for your Video, watch them most of them.Doing great job!
Thank you I found that very informative. Made me take a set and think,
Cheers Paul! 👍
Brilliant video thank you
Brilliant video!
Thanks for your help and videos on all diy etc very helpful keep up the good videos👍🏻 and pricing
No worries - thank you! 👍👊
A big thanks for sharing your knowledge with us a great video explaining the basis of running a small business. As someone ready to take the plunge your advice is very important to know. Without working within the trade pricing is a mind field enjoying the video,s looking forward to some more
No probs - best of luck! 👍
Great Video, I wish I'd had this sort of insight when I started out on my own in 2005. One thing you didn't incorporate into your spreadsheet is Pension and this will be a huge part of your monthly outgoings.
I don't charge by the hour but quote the job completely and figure in $110/hour. I never tell the customer I charge by the hour but rather quote a fixed price
Yup - same here. Defo the best approach to avoid arguments over "Oh, you finished early... where's my discount?". I almost always quote on a fixed price. 👍
Great video to watch. Had several thoughts on different things myself, and I use calculators like this in most things. It's surprising the things you forget and these help give an accurate picture. I always tend to over estimate the predicted work rate at 50%
Hello
I’d quite like to see an updated version with 2022/2023 costs! Materials, fuel, gas, electric, food etc….. I don’t think there’s 1 thing that hasn’t increased! Great spreadsheet and like you say spreading this awareness through the construction community and clients/customers would be a real bonus for all the genuine tradespeople out there.
The fuel and energy costs would be a horror show all on their own! The UK economy is in dire straits where, if you charge a reasonable price to cover your costs and make a modest profit, you've almost immediately priced yourself out of the market!
Ur always helpful
Wow! Well that brings it home quite a bit Andy!
I'm just starting out doing paid work and am well undercharging!
I think a lot off this comes from confidence in your own work and under valuing yourself.
Brilliant video buddy - now off to patreon. 👍
Cheers Jim! Yes, it's not until you put it all down on paper you realise exactly how much you really need to make. Do a good job and the rest will come with time. 👍
Hey your vedios are so educative.... i find them intresting.... 👍
Very fascinating video, combining two of my favourite things, Excel and Business. I would happily spend all day playing in Excel 😂😂😂
Ha ha - defo, Excel is one of the most valuable business tools out there. 👍
This video should have a lot more than 532 views. It should be watched every person in the world thinking about going into business for themselves.
Good video
One think uk small businesses
8 hours work ?!
Yes it can be 8 hours physically work but I would say at least 4 hours a day will spend on email chat call phone
And tell you go to bed your mind is busy with your business so I would say at least 13 hours work
From this 13 hour If you Lucky you will get pay 3 hours max so now think about it because There is you get everyday jobs
I think self-employed is one of the hard in the uk
Reason too much expenses
Yes that calculation is so right !
Yup - exactly. A lot of folk forget about all the work they're doing from home, on weekends, evenings etc. All needs taken in to account. 👍
There is some good information there Andy that will benefit many people. I’ve been in business many years and have established a good client base, but if your starting out or want to expand, then drumming up new contacts is key! Without regular work, you have no business.
Would be good to hear your thoughts on advertising, websites etc, maybe a future video?
Cheers Wayne! Web sites is a key one and something I'll be covering. 👍
I charge £65 as a plumber as I need to. I undercharged for years, making nothing. Every-tradesman needs to charge this as a minimum as you don't work 365 day a year, prob 180 in reality. Remember 30k is the average.
Wise words. 👍👊
Hey Joe, how are you doing?
This video is really really good, I am going to include it in one of my videos with a link here if that's ok? I also run some facebook groups and I will share it on them. Thanks.
Hi Allen - cheers for the comments bud! Yes, go for it! Obviously don't copy the actual vid and re-upload it - I don't think that's what you mean though. 😂👍
Small Business Toolbox maybe just a snap shot mention it and tell people to check it out?
@@SmallBusinessToolbox I have included it in this video, Please check that you are ok with that. Thanks. th-cam.com/video/sx538iI6rys/w-d-xo.html
Great videos Andy. I am thinking of starting my own business as a Gas Engineer and I have found them very informative. Should pension contributions not be included on this spread sheet.
Just a couple of points I can add, and that might be helpful to some viewers:
1) It's very important to take into account the very considerable risks associated with running your own business. All sorts of nasties can happen that permanent employees don't really have to worry about: market downturns; bad debt; long term sickness; etc. Therefore you don't just want to be as well off as you would be as a permanent employee. You want some extra as a 'cushion' against that risk. By all means use this great spreadsheet and, having played with the numbers and arrived at an hourly rate that just puts you 'in the green', add on another 20% to that hourly rate as the cushion. That way, you'll have some money for a rainy day.
2) A rule of thumb for consultants and many other service industries is to charge 3x the hourly rate that you'd fetch as a full-time perm employee. As an example, let's say you're 'worth' £40K annual salary as a permie (including bonus if applicable, but don't include employer pension contributions or other perks provided by an employer such as life insurance, private healthcare etc). Then, calculate your hourly rate as a permie by dividing that annual £40,000 by 2,000 hours (this being the typical paid hours for a full-time permie). This then works out at £40,000 / 2,000 = £20 / hour. Then, multiply by 3 and you end up with £60 / hour as the suggested charge out rate. If you want to charge by the day, then just assume 8 hours work time so you end up with £60 x 8 = £480 / day. Too simple? Try it.
Sorry, late to the party here a bit. Found this video as Andy referred to it in one of his recent videos about his house extension build (Feb 2023). That is an interesting rule of thumb and, having sketched out a business plan for being self-employed after taking early retirement, the 3x factor seems to be about right for me too. The sector I would potentially work in does have some seriously expensive business costs like professional indemnity insurance (not that PII is that uncommon - I wonder how many people take a chance and work without it!).
Great insight there - don't forget you may wish to run a car, as well as a work van. The spreadsheet seems to cover personal car maintenance and breakdown cover but not purchase/depreciation of that personal car. £200/month or whatever. 👍
You can try RapidBooks. I think it can meet your needs. Really easy to use and free
Great video I think the problem with the trades is we charge way too little compared to our colleges in the US.I charge £30 an hour sand I’m finding it hard to keep my head above water.Problem is there are lots of other tradesmen that charge 15 to 20 an hour and it really f..k. Everyone else up.Then clients think everything should be done for 10 to 15 an hour.anyway nuff said love watching your handymen channel to keep up the good work 👍👍👍
Yup - £30 is absolute bare minimum for me just to break even. The ones charging £15-20 will be out of business before they know it - just need to spread awareness that there's no need to charge so little. It doesn't do anyone any favours. 👍
The other 'Trade' killer is people 'jobing'. That's people that aren't actually self-employed and are also claiming benefits or living with a partner who is claiming benefits. They don't have a mortgage or full council tax etc... Other stuff like free medical and dentist, all of that stacks up against you, paying it all yourself. For the record I'm not having a go at people that genuinely need benefits. But benefit fraud doesn't just take away from the tax man it facilitates an unfair advantage in the market place between those competing for business. Just my two penneth.
Whats really great about this tutorial is that it gives you a rule of thumb way of estimating for a service. I'm talking about being self employed as a decorator or plumber or builder etc. You need a consistent way of working so that you have a consistent way of knowing how long a typical job might take and then when you know that you can estimate a job easily. For example if I put in a bathroom suite for a customer I look at what's coming out and what's going in and where? So a standard bathroom suite is 'bath, sink unit and a toilet' a job like this which has no re-modeling, in other words the bath sink and toilet are going in 'like for like'. I can do that in four hours using existing pipework and replacing only the tap connectors and waste pipes. Using this tutorials method of valuing my time and charging £40 an hour a bathroom suite installation should be charged at £160 and take 4-5 hours. Likewise if you are a customer and are looking to find a reputable plumber to put in your bathroom suite and they're are not charging £40 an hour then it is reasonable to assume they're not fully legit, that's not to say they're a cowboy but they might not be insured or might not be 'as' experienced. So good tutorial for all involved whether your in business or a customer looking for a service and wanting an idea of what you should be getting charged. Thanks.
Ur very helpful to me
Great tool for working out your rates. Thanks for this Andy. Massive thumbs-up.
I subbed and downloaded and noticed one point on the spreadsheet that I think needs amending. I have a Forces pension income and when I added it into the Additional Income box it adds it to the total required income rather than reduces it. Putting the figure in as a negative works as expected.
The 'additional income' box is additional desired income - so if you wanted to make a random extra £5k per year that's where you'd put it. Well spotted though - it's really badly worded by me so will sort on the next release. 👊👍
Really good video mate though you forgot to include profit! used to reinvest back into the business for growth such as marketing campaigns / hiring an apprentice or investing in new equipment & retirement savings
My example covers marketing, equipment costs etc. 👍
@@SmallBusinessToolbox brilliant video either way gives an accurate insight into the true costs of running a small home improvement / tradesmen business I could have done with this guidance 10 years ago when I started my plastering business instead I had to learn these lessons the hard way!
I watched this over a year ago at first and now I went self employed start of the year I’ve come back to it and gone ‘what the fuck am I doing’🤣 as a gas engineer I can pretty easily get a job for 40k a year with cards in, but always wanted to work for myself since I was a kid, and this make me realise I don’t charge enough and sometimes I feel like I over charge! Very useful! Thanks
All very good , an interesting breakdown and I’m in total agreement all trades need to be on higher salaries from personal experience People just won’t pay over 240 a day there’s always somebody who will work for less in my area , then I find myself jobless
A good video , The self employed should never think its taboo to talk hourly rate amongst trades..(As long as its not Friday Afternoon pub talk) This would help to go towards setting National rates.
Buying or leasing a Van takes a big chunk of money ,I have been lucky in the past and made a £3000 van last 5 years, A Tradesman just starting out takes out a Lease for a Brand new Ford Rangers just put his business on the back foot for the nest 4 years by £20,000+ and not many self employed relay sit down a do the figures,
Phil ,Self employed 35 years,
Wise words Phil! Yes, I see it time and time again - a fleet of swanky brand new vans and wondering why they're not making any money. Stay safe! 👍😀
The tool is excellent, thanks but I think the spreadsheet should include Corporation Tax as an outgoing. Corp tax is 20% of all profits for ltd companies and Sole traders I think.
Great spreadsheet. Signed up as a member today. I've been sub contracting as an Electrician but offered to go on the books. However I'd be using my own vehicle/fuel + running costs & tools. I doubt it's worth the extra £2/hour offered. Would there be a way to calculate how much "better/worse off" I'd be?
I have a friend who charges less than £10 an hour for teaching piano! I think it's time to show him this video, cheers.
Yes, that's very, very cheap and you could never make a living from that. Fine as extra pocket money but it means they're significantly undercutting people who do rely on it as an income. Show them this: www.ism.org/advice/private-music-tuition-fees-our-survey-results-2018 😀
@@SmallBusinessToolbox Exactly on point; undercutting your colleagues. Also, if you start out too low, how are your customers going to feel when you have to raise your rates?
I came to your channel thanks to the interview with Keith Brown. I did not know about the existence of this channel till know.
You launched it in summer when I was very busy. I'm sure you referred to this channel in one of your Gosworth Handyman videos.
Where are you from?
@@williamsfisher5464 I live in Slovakia (former Czechoslovakia), Europe, since 1990. But I was born in the Netherlands.
@@hansdegroot8549 okay Groot am from Pennsylvania but currently in New York
@@hansdegroot8549 how long have you been trading?
@@williamsfisher5464 I'm not really a trader. I offer services to people. I teach, translate, rent our cottage to tourist, etc. But I'm self-employed for about thirty years now.
Whatching from Namibia 🇳🇦👍👍👍👍👍👍
The 8 dislike must be from the customer’s that’s been forward this video
thank you ! just what I was looking for. I'm certain my rate is too low.
Free....Free at last!!!! Redemption....Thank you
Excellent work - I personally think you underestimated a few things there
I've heard handymen like a beer a on a Friday!
;-)
Ha ha - I'm off the beer! 🍻😀
Don't forget down in London £10 per day congestion charge and that doubles April 2019 to £20 24/7/365 every day if you work there that is.please don't leave any substantial ropes around
Great video - very informative! Would like to download the excel sheet but the link takes you to becoming a member and the £3.50 a month thingy... Can you post a link for the $1 sheet? This sounds like I'm not prepared to pay more than $1 which isn't true - i just don't want to sign up for a monthly fee! Many thanks again for a well executed video!
This should be required viewing. For everyone.
Cheers Andrew! A lot less people might go out of business... hopefully! 👍
great viddeo andy. although its a bit depressing. your figures are pritty low really. no safety gear ot training, no vehicle servicing, tyres, mot etccomputer, stationary costs, loan costs to buy the van, phone itself every year or 2 when it breaks, tool running costs and consumables like blades etc, internet costs, office space in your house costs, clothing , workwear and probably the most important . PROFIT there are probably loads more
Great points! A lot of these were bundled in with other costs but I've separated them out a bit for the next release. Cheers Alan! 👍
@@SmallBusinessToolbox yyfwzbyfy❤️by y2z😍😍uh uh c guy byy😚hubby bzyy☺️😙😙😙😙😙😙😙😙😙😙😙😙😙😙😙😙😙😙😙😙😙😙😙😙😙😙😙😙😙😙😙😙😙😙😙😙😙😙😙😙😙B q a1ab
Office space in your house is actually something you can write off against your income tax
Hello Andy, I have got some problem with my P60, is it possible to talk about P60 and how to calculate PAYE or NI?
Very realistic considerations often not considered.
Hi great video although outdated now. How much will rates have gone up since this video? Cheers
You can definitely see why car garages need to charge such high prices per hour
Ive been self employed for 10 years after my 3rd redundancy from banks I'd had enough. Whilst people think that I'm "my own boss", it's not true, as I've simply swapped the bank as a boss to my clients. I now have 250 bosses instead of just 1 line manager boss. Also, my holidays I take are a joke because you can't win. If I'm quiet I can't afford to take holidays as I need to look for business. If I'm busy, then I haven't time for holidays and I want to make hay while the sun shines. The only way holidays happen is if I book and pay well in advance. It's nice not to have to work precisely exact hours, but being "your own boss" is not true (at least for those of us who HAVE to earn a living and are reasonably successful).
Exactly: "You're gonna serve somebody."
it seems to make more sense to charge per project, not per hour.
Good video, but the business Overheads are grossly underestimated.
Oh, totally. I was being quite optimistic. 👍
Small Business Toolbox a good Yard Stick, calculate all the Overheads you can think of & double it, that’ll be nearer the total👍
What about training courses and safety clothing ppe. Bank charges. Tool repairs & maintenance, it's endless.
Indeed! It all adds up. 👍
Have you used an Invoice Manager called RapidBooks? Many people recommend this app to me, it’s free. Do you have any suggestions?
I always charge travel but I have a mobile business.
On a slightly different idea I have noticed that thanks mainly to the complete lack of hands on skills or even theoretical knowledge for these jobs by the general public now, they're not willing to buy an older property and get the trades in to fix it which will be cheaper and in my opinion you get a better property, however they will pay for an overpriced new build which in theory needs no work, but I know this to be far from the truth, and will mortgage themselves to the eyeballs to finance it. The big point being is that the big companies get the work building, whilst older properties are left to run to ruin and not provide employment for the smaller outfits.
Think it varies a lot by area - where I am the new builds are *way* cheaper than the older houses. But yeah, there's no getting away from the house builders' control over the market and their ability to just 'stop building' when they want house prices to increase. 👍
What would be really great for a video is if you could cover how self employment and submitting tax returns works when you are also employed full time? E.g. work full time at company X as a software developer but also want to do some freelance work. How does that work when you are effectively, employed and self employed?
It's *generally* pretty simple. Just add the 'employment' section on tax return and add figures from P60. It will work out the rest. 👍
Do you know you can earn a lot from trading forex, binary and investing in bitcoin... If you want to know how to get started email Mark at Jefferymark704@gmail. Com.
Remember time is money
might want to rephrase that Personal Outgoings (Luxuries) bit to say "Netflix/Spotify/Patreons" :p
Patreon is an essential business expense. 👍👌😀
But you've forgot the worker at McDonalds expenses (unless I missed it) from their £14, 646 they've also got to buy a car to get to work, insure the car, put petrol in the car, so they also are looking at minus £3000 odd from that 14K.
Travel to / from your regular place of work isn't an allowable business expense. So in a similar way if you're self employed you can't claim for travel from home to your office. The fact that the McDonalds worker chooses to use a car to get to work is irrelevant. 👍
@@SmallBusinessToolbox Just to add a little bit more, I've been self employed since I was 17, now 50, I had to work 6 days a week 11 hours a day 90% of that time. I've had about 3 weeks holidays in 40 years, would I do it again? No way, give me working in McDonalds any day of the week, no stress, fixed wage per month, holiday time, Loverly!! There are some perks being self employed, but not many.
The big problem I see is that self employed wages haven't kept up with increases in corporate wages (due to min wage etc.) and the modern cost of living (due to house prices, rental costs, extortionate council tax etc.). I'm still seeing fully qualified sparkies going out charging only £20/hr. They can't run a business like that but it brings things down for everyone else. It's hard - best of luck! McDonalds would be a laugh for a couple of weeks but it would quickly get VERY boring. 👊😀
@@SmallBusinessToolbox My problem actually was ( I worked in Spain for 30 years) illegal workers, the black market, and retired people doing jobs on the side, most customers didn't care if you were legal, paying taxes or not, all they cared about was the cheapest price, it was a cut throat market, it took me years and years to earn a decent wage, plus when I started out I was a teenager and no one takes you seriously at those kind of ages. I didn't start getting respect till I was about 40. Now I'm back in the UK I'm carrying on with my business which is still cut throat, but also do a couple of hours a week helping my Mrs in her cleaning jobs and it's great working for someone else for a change.
Hi Andy, great video, is there any chance you could highlight where benefits such as child tax credits and working tax credit should be placed on this worksheet please. I’m a single mother and I understand I maybe eligible for some of these benefits whilst self employed. Thank you
Hi - you're best just giving Tax Credits a ring and they'll talk you through what might be available for you. Defo worth checking out! There's various calculators for this sort of stuff online. 👍
Thank you
Nice work but expenses isn't realistic from my perspective in 2021... your calculations was in 2018/19 tax year and prices only rises up but
I never paid for telephone £500 per year. It could be true only if you take some very expensive phone for 2 years contract.
Food expenses-£500 for a person? Fancy...it should be enough for a couple or it could be true if you are not cooking by yourself and eat outside...
Rent/mortgage - I can't comment
House insurance - if you rent it isn't essential but mortgage possibly is...
The devil is in the detail.
Good stuff again..Thanks... Keep your fingers crossed folks, for no vehicle breakdown or repairs etc.. Ha... It's a minefield.....Good advice though, for the newbies and the people kidding themselves that they are actually doing well financially. One question...do you think that discounts that tradesmen/women get ( because they buy plenty of stuff from their suppliers) should be handed on to the customer, or kept by the tradesperson... ? Basically, Should the customer benefit from the tradepersons trade discount...or should the tradesperson keep the discount for themselves, and add a premium to it for collection of the materials from the supplier and delivery to site etc...? I think that was more than one question..ha..
The discount should absolutely form part of the profit for the business in my view - that's what it's there for. I try to charge RRP+20% on materials to cover my time for the ordering and collection process. It really annoys me when customers expect that discount to be passed on. If McDonalds get a discount for buying their burgers cheaper do you think they'd pass it on to the consumer? 👍😀
30 per hour is no where near enough. I live in a small community in North Carolina and I price out my work at $110.00/hour. Got all the business I care to have. I do electric, HVAC, gas lines, carpentry, drywall, tile and wood flooring plus remodels. Some of the work I sub out if need be.
Sam Eades how much do you charge for changing taps
I feel like the best price to charge the customer is £50.00 that's if you only have essential costs nothing else
Hi, I’ve joined patreon but I’m struggling with this spreadsheet and I’ve not been able to use it at all. Please can you tell me if this is editable, if so how and on what device. Thank you
Thank you Desiree! It should just work on pretty much any version of Excel - you normally have to click the 'Enable editing' button. 👍
Hi Mate, I’ve just gone to try this spreadsheet for myself I’ve become a member but my laptop will not open the download? Is there a specific application I need installing to open it?
Hi - it's in Excel format but you should also be able to open it with the likes of LibreOffice Calc. 👍
Hi cant find the link to that spreadsheet. Where can i purchase it so i can do all the fiqures for my own business. Thankyou.
Hi - it's on my Patreon - patreon.com/smallbusinesstoolbox 👍
Would some of the running costs not be tax deductible? I agree with the £30per hour minimum . Shame customers are just always looking for the cheapest .
Tax deductible - yes. That's taken in to account on the spreadsheet. You're just paying tax on the profit. 👍
Hi. If I make 100usd through Fiverr who take a 20% cut. Do I mark this down as 100usd or 80usd sales. Also do I mark the 20usd as an expense ? Or is their cut not an expense. Please advise ! (Ps I’m in the UK)
Technically you should split out the fees since turnover is based on your Gross sales amount (i.e. what the customer actually paid). Having said that, unless you're approaching the VAT threshold it should make very little difference to the tax you pay. To avoid unnecessary complexity, for smaller amounts some folk just declare the GBP value that hits their account BUT I would highly recommend checking this with the HMRC and an accountant - especially as the business grows. If there's any accountants here please let us know what you think! 👍😀
feels hopeless as a young person in this country
Good video thanks. Watching it for the second time now. Every time I try to quite for something using the figure I arrived at from this, it just makes me think, there's no way I'm going to get any work at that cost. Man, it's depressing. Kind of makes me want to just go and work at McDonalds... :-/
It's a hard balancing act of trying to get a job, and trying to get paid enough. Mess either up, and it's not been worth it...
Push in to areas that can afford your rates if you can 👍
Also, sometimes clients do not pay. Once was owed over £1000 by a law firm. Took me nearly a year of letters and weekly Monday morning phone calls to get it. Exhausting.
This is such a great way to work out costing. How can I get a copy of this spreadsheet please
Hi - it's on my Patreon 👍
My business cost are 31k a year
Hi Andy. Just signed up on Patreon to download the spreadsheet but I’m just getting #VALUE! error on the fields. Any ideas?
Forget that mate I’ve deleted it and re downloaded it seems ok now
Cool - glad you got sorted. 👍
Does this calculator actually working? I just payed for a yearly subscription, mostly to get an access to it. Every time I click on the link either through YT or the website it keeps logging me out.
Hi - sent you an e-mail. Try F5 to refresh the page.
Your principal is very good but in reality it prices yourself out of a competitive market. I’ve seen a huge increase in self employed tradesmen due to the lack of industry available in the manufacturing work place. If you charge what you’re recommending you’ll end up with 2 weeks out of 4 in work which defeats the object.
Depends on the trade but the vast majority of trades people I know are flooded with work and the vast majority of customers I know can't find good trades people (at any price). I do think *in general* £30/hr is a bare minimum but you need to crunch the numbers. No point being in business to make minimum wage though. 👍
@@SmallBusinessToolbox I think a service related business is (also) related to the place where you live.
Only people (including their houses, pets, etc. need services. Imho there is a huge difference if you live in a small village (500 inh), a small town (20000 inh),
a bigger town (100000 inh) or a city (more than 400 000 inh)
The smaller the village/town you live in, the further you have to drive to reach your customers.
Morning, I've just joined your site for a year and i can't download the spreadsheet from this video? i can download all the others from the members area just not this one? I'm contacting you via TH-cam as you don't have a "Contact" tab on your website. Could you look into this for me please. Thanks
Hi Leigh - sorry for the delay! TH-cam put your comment in 'spam' for some reason. Did you manage to get sorted? I tested it and seems to work fine. Try F5 to refresh the page but if that doesn't work get back to me. Contact link is at the bottom of the page. Cheers!
@@SmallBusinessToolbox Thanks for getting back to me. All sorted now thanks. Take care.
I can't access the spreadsheet after paying for membership....
Just refresh the page 👍👍
Fascinating. £50 per hour is where you should be. No argument. Otherwise walk away.
Totally agree. Sadly still seeing qualified electricians going out and charging £20/hr. 😭😭
I really dont get these figures. At 35 to 40 an hour youre in the realms of skilled and qualified trades like plumbers and electricians. People expect cheaper as a handyman....
Not specifically talking about handyman rates here - think I mentioned joiner in the vid, can't remember. Depending on the handyman work you do this can be way more skilled than just doing a single trade. You need to prove your worth to your customers - even if you just charged £5/hr you'd still get folk wanting it done cheaper. Don't join the race to the bottom - you'll burn yourself out and your business will fail. Best of luck! 👍
As a pipefitter welder nobody will pay more than £23 per hour. :D
And You work minimum 10.5 hours a day with Saturday....
I think you're talking about sub-contract work, not direct self employment. I know of welding / metal-working businesses charging WAY more than £23/hr. I've used many for my own projects! 👍👊
@@SmallBusinessToolbox Yes. You are exactly right. I'm a subcontractor normally.
Maybe I should progress one day for being independent service provider. But dairy and brewery normally don't want to speak with small contractors. Just big ones.
And its easy to burn out... Workin such long hours.