On 2008-01-18 07:56:25 +0000, Mike Dodd said:

rrh wrote:
"The Medway Handyman" wrote in
message .uk...
Sorry if this annoys anyone, but I did head the post accordingly!

I've decided to review my pricing structure, firstly to make it easier
to communicate to customers and secondly to increase my margin. I'm
constantly booked up for weeks ahead & the Fair Trader thing is
generating extra business - I also feel it adds value to my services
(I'm the only accredited handyman in the scheme).

If anyone would care to comment I'd appreciate your thoughts. Off
group if you prefer

The charges are on my site http://www.medwayhandyman.co.uk/www/charges.htm

Thanks in advance.
--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257


Too cheap. If you charged out 8 hours a day, 5 days a week for 48 weeks
of the year - extremely unlikely - you would still only be pulling in
£42,000 a year - before all your costs (except materials). Your skills
are worth more.



Without wishing to sound disrespectful, for a Handyman I would suggest
the prices sound quite reasonable. Let's not bump the price of a
Handyman into the realms of the saintly professional plumbers and
sparks.

I suppose only TMH can answer this - look at your average weekly hours
charged, and decide then that the business can bring in a respectable
wage. Although I'm guessing that is precisely what you have done with
your post.

For what it's worth - I'd be more inclined to "get a man in", having
seen a published charge list - and the prices you charge appear fair,
than doing a lot of the DIY myself.

I think that the prices are quite reasonable, although as you say, he
could get more, in stages. From past discussions, the catchment area
is one of people who are (relatively) cash rich and time poor and who
may well not feel that they can tackle DIY jobs anyway - for example
putting together IKEA furniture.

So the comparison is not one of "do I DIY?" or "do I get a man in?" but
of "are the prices and timescale reasonable as compared with possibly
a collection of single tradespeople?". The second case is less price
sensitive because people are willing to pay for convenience.