How to calculate your sq/m price?

[Monkey Boy]

I have always sold myself short when I was younger, and even though my work was good, it rarely lead to repeat business because I think people don't take you seriously if you don't make them pay. It's very paradoxical how pricing works, psychologically.

I think if you weigh up a job with tight margins and offer a really good price, because your not really happy with it yourself and there is not much profit in it and really you want more because deep down you know it warrants more, you come across as a dodgy rip off to the customer. Your better off doing that pricing thing, adding 50% and going for it with faux confidence and get viewed much better by the customer for it

 

[Woods]

I think if you weigh up a job with tight margins and offer a really good price, because your not really happy with it yourself and there is not much profit in it and really you want more because deep down you know it warrants more, you come across as a dodgy rip off to the customer. Your better off doing that pricing thing, adding 50% and going for it with faux confidence and get viewed better

Yeah I think I'm gonna have to agree with that. It's probably better giving them a high price with confidence. And if they think it's too much, you can propose a small cut in order to accommodate their budget. The price might still be too high, but at least now they feel as though you threw them a bone.

And then also there is a point to be made about being self-employed: when you have a job, all is well. But there are rough patches where it might be difficult to find that next job. So it's not really unfair to make your clients pay for the downtime because during the downtime, you're doing a lot of marketing work, which is also WORK.

I might actually factor in at least a month worth of downtime per year which is spent purely on marketing, looking for jobs. And if you divide those costs across all the jobs you do in a year, I think you're not ripping anyone off. It's just the nature of running a business. Client doesn't pay for just plastering; they pay for the service the company provides. And marketing costs are a part of that. Because without the marketing, your client wouldn't even have been able to find a plasterer in the first place.

So yeah... charging them for marketing is completely fair. Every company does it.

 

[Woods]

this is such a hard trade; not just physically, but also in terms of skill. The time it takes to become good at this is the same time it takes to study to become a doctor. And to make things even more challenging, if you're self-employed, you're tasked with doing your own marketing and looking for jobs when you have none, can be really stressing. It's only fair that clients pay you extra for that.

If they rather go for the polish crew or a subcontractor that does meterage, so be it. But they should also understand that the quality of the work might not be on par with someone who works for themselves and has pride in the work they deliver and a reputation to preserve.

 

[Spitandpolish]

Yeah I think I'm gonna have to agree with that. It's probably better giving them a high price with confidence. And if they think it's too much, you can propose a small cut in order to accommodate their budget. The price might still be too high, but at least now they feel as though you threw them a bone.

And then also there is a point to be made about being self-employed: when you have a job, all is well. But there are rough patches where it might be difficult to find that next job. So it's not really unfair to make your clients pay for the downtime because during the downtime, you're doing a lot of marketing work, which is also WORK.

I might actually factor in at least a month worth of downtime per year which is spent purely on marketing, looking for jobs. And if you divide those costs across all the jobs you do in a year, I think you're not ripping anyone off. It's just the nature of running a business. Client doesn't pay for just plastering; they pay for the service the company provides. And marketing costs are a part of that. Because without the marketing, your client wouldn't even have been able to find a plasterer in the first place.

So yeah... charging them for marketing is completely fair. Every company does it.

Just change enough so you can take a bird out mate, that's a good yardstick !

 

[Woods]

Just change enough so you can take a bird out mate, that's a good yard stick !

men with self respect don't pay for women anymore mate, times have changed. They wanted equality, they can have it.
My gf agrees btw: most women just want the good things about equality, none of the bad

 

[Spitandpolish]

men with self respect don't pay for women anymore mate, times have changed. They wanted equality, they can have it.
My gf agrees btw: most women just want the good things about equality, none of the bad

Ok , just so you can have a good life, is that better ?

 

[Spitandpolish]

Yeah I think I'm gonna have to agree with that. It's probably better giving them a high price with confidence. And if they think it's too much, you can propose a small cut in order to accommodate their budget. The price might still be too high, but at least now they feel as though you threw them a bone.

And then also there is a point to be made about being self-employed: when you have a job, all is well. But there are rough patches where it might be difficult to find that next job. So it's not really unfair to make your clients pay for the downtime because during the downtime, you're doing a lot of marketing work, which is also WORK.

I might actually factor in at least a month worth of downtime per year which is spent purely on marketing, looking for jobs. And if you divide those costs across all the jobs you do in a year, I think you're not ripping anyone off. It's just the nature of running a business. Client doesn't pay for just plastering; they pay for the service the company provides. And marketing costs are a part of that. Because without the marketing, your client wouldn't even have been able to find a plasterer in the first place.

So yeah... charging them for marketing is completely fair. Every company does it.

You can put whatever you like on a spreadsheet, pardon the pun, but that wont ever work in the real world, that is my point mate .

 

[Woods]

You can put whatever you like on a spreadsheet, pardon the pun, but that wont ever work in the real world, that is my point mate .

Point taken. Question: how would you respond to a customer asking you "why does it cost so much?"

 

[Spitandpolish]

Point taken. Question: how would you respond to a customer asking you "why does it cost so much?"

Answer would be "that's my price for the work but your under no obligation to accept it. Thank you.

 

[Woods]

haha what a badass. Polite but instills respect. I'll keep that in mind

 

[spread95]

Point taken. Question: how would you respond to a customer asking you "why does it cost so much?"

Actually your very lucky next week my prices are going up 8%