How Much Should You Really Be Charging?
The number one question I receive is tied directly to the fact, most contractors are still guessing when it comes to pricing. Overhead. Profit. Labor rate. Trip fees. They think just because they throw a number they hear their competitors use, thats all that they need. It may work, but how and what do you divide these funds is just as important for your business health. If you don’t know how to do the math, you’re not building a business. You’re surviving check to check and think you need more work, when you do not. So here’s the plan: This Tuesday & Thursday on IG, I’m walking you through our Contractor Price Builder Worksheet FREE on instagram live. We will cover: - How to calculate your real hourly rate - The difference between markup and margin - Why profit is a non-negotiable - And how to price with confidence Join the session. Bring your numbers.4 Overlooked Sales & Marketing Techniques! *They all have to do with appearance.
I am posting this because it might be overlooked due to being pretty foundational but newer people to business might not know. If you are new to business, you are actually skilled at what you do, but business just isn't taking off, then read this. If you get offended easily, then don't continue. However, if you really want to grow and improve yourself, then read on. Appearance - This is going to take some serious ability to be self-aware and evaluate yourself for growth. Some people might not want to bring this up because "just do you" is a cultural norm now, but the reality is that people are going to judge your appearance before they ever hear a word you say. We might want to assume people will overlook appearance but they might not and we just have to understand that is a reality no matter how we feel about it. Here are a few things to consider: Professional Attire - If you are the owner of your business and you are trying to sell your services you shouldn't show up to sell the way you would to just any other casual occasion, or to do labor. Step it up. Wear nice shoes, slacks, and a collard shirt, or button up shirt. Make sure your clothes are neat, clean, and not a wrinkled mess with stains. Hygiene - Make sure you have decent hair cut and don't look like you just crawled out of bed. If you have beard make sure it is well groomed. Wear deodorant and make sure you smell nice. Make sure your breath smells good too. Keep gum or mints in your vehicle. Piercings & Tattoos - I personally hire guys/gals and I don't personally care about piercings or tattoos but our customers might. Just take that into consideration and make an attempt to cover them if you see that this could be a factor in certain sales situations. Weight/Personal Care - This one could get some hate but its just real. I'm not even 100% where I want to be with this one. Here is the reality... being healthy and in shape takes discipline. When you show up as someone who is in shape and not overweight it communicates something without using words. It communicates discipline. People want to hire people who are disciplined and do what they say they will. When you look good, then you don't even have to say you are a disciplined and consistent person because your presence communicates it. You will also show up into rooms with more confidence which will help tremendously when selling. Language - you may cuss like a sailor and that is fine. But when you are in a sales situation air on the side of caution and clean up your speech. Speak professionally and never bring up politics or religion. Vehicle - Make sure your vehicles are clean and organized. I don't care what you say. People will judge you based on your vehicle. That is just the culture we live in. I'm not saying you have to polish your work truck but make sure it is clean and organized. If you have papers covering your dash board, fast food that is a month old shoved in the dash, and bottle, cans, and other trash falling out of the floor board when you open the door, then do better. Have a place for your tools and equipment and keep them clean and organized on your vehicle. Website - Your website is going to make a big impression on your customers. How you do one thing is how you do everything to your clients. If your website is unprofessional, messy, unorganized, and confusing then your clients might think that you are all those things. Take time, or money to invest into having a nice website. Social Media - If you are not present on social media (personally or professionally) and posting professional looking content, then you are communicating something to your client. You could be communicating that you aren't active, you aren't truly professional, or if your content is low quality...clients might view you as being cheap or low quality. Business Practices - This is such a simple concept. Have professional business practices and standards. Answer your phone. Show up when you say you will. Do what you say you will do. Be organized and clean. You can ignore all of these little things if you think they aren't important but I can promise you if you are letting your offense of any of these things keep you from doing them, or giving them attention then that is probably part of why you aren't growing. I promise you that companies that are growing and doing big things take all of these things into consideration and constantly try to improve them. Make excuses for yourself, or start making changes. This is all part of your brand. You want a better brand, then make yourself better. Raise the standard. Always be improving and evaluating. Make it easy to refer your business because your professional standards are so high and seen by all that make contact with you. Never get complacent and satisfied always find ways to improve. When you do this be ready for the new opportunities that will come your way!What do I need to know/have prepared in order to get better business loans?
Have been using Jobber Capital for years to help grow my business. However, it is expensive and really sucks for cash flow purposes. At least in my experience. Is there a better way to do that, or should I be trying to get financing somewhere else that is cheaper? If you recommend the Jobber Capital/ Stripe Loan, then how much have you taken? I have been approved for a little over $100K but I haven't wanted to take that risk. Let me know what you have done and options I may not be thinking of. Thanks!
How to sign up a business that has multiple sites across your city?
I wonder if anyone has any good advise on getting a medium sized business to sign up multiple locations? I am thinking along the lines of a restaurant/store/landlord that has 3-4-5 locations locally and possibly has different service pros at all of them. I know that I couldn't work a national account or ones that are spread out across the province, but I am thinking the ones that are all concentrated in my city. So far I am thinking about offering free inspections at all the locations, taking photos and notes, and relaying those back to the person who would make the call to approve that contract. Offering a discounted rate if all locations are signed up. Doing service for a very low rate at one location for a trial period. Offering a few no charge services to show my level of workmanship. I think I have a good plan to go after these types of business situations, but I am wondering if anyone has a better approach that I may be missing? Always gonna reach out to the community to see if there are any ideas floating around I missed.How to price a job that is outside your normal working area?
I have made myself a set price list for work within the 35KM where I like to work, but often get calls outside that area. I have been going and doing the work at the same price I quote for calls within my area and wonder if that is hurting me? The idea was to have people discuss what price I gave them with family and friends in different locations and recommend me, but at what point does that price become unprofitable? Should I raise all my prices so customers feel I am not adding a travel surcharge? Should I be upfront and let them know my location and if they want me to come, I will have to add a travel charge? Should I refuse work outside my area? Refuse is such a bad word right!How can I create an invoice for the deposit?
When doing certain commercial work the client will ask us to send them an invoice for the deposit. This isn't typically how Jobber works as the invoice isn't created until the job is closed usually. What is the best way to send a customer an invoice before having the quote signed, deposit paid, or the job completed? Hope that makes sense. Thanks in advance!What to charge for landscaping job?
Hi everyone, I’ve got a landscaping job coming up and I’m looking for some advice on pricing it fairly. The job includes: Clearing out the backyard and the side of the house (removing overgrowth, debris, smaller trees, etc.) Hauling away all the waste and debris Cleaning out the gutters I already have images and a short video of the areas ready to share for context. Link: https://imgur.com/a/OJTrye7 I’m in the Lima, Ohio area and trying to figure out a fair total charge for this job. Based on the scope, how would you suggest I price it? Should I go hourly, flat rate, or a mix? Any tips on factoring in hauling and gutter work would be really appreciated. Thanks in advance for your guidance!What Are the Best Practices for Expanding Painting Service Contracts?
I have a painting service contract for our customers. It has worked out well for the last year but we haven't signed up a lot of customers. I think we have 15 customers on service contracts right now. I really want to vamp this up but I am hoping to get insight from other businesses on best practices for service contracts. I'm also trying to figure out if I should just sell as many as I can and then hire a full time person to service those clients, or keep slowly adding them until I can hire someone full-time to do it. I have been hesitant to go after this super hard because I don't want to be in a position where I can't get to our service contract clients for too long.
