Seems like a low ball price to me but I'm in NYC area. I would like to see how you estimate the price you give the customer before you fabricate. Are all the tools/machines fully paid for in your shop? Do you figure in the price of overhead in your shop before you even give an estimate? What about those days when you have no work? Your landlord (or bank) still wants his rent/mortgage payment during your shop's idle time. How many competitors in your area are you bidding for this same job? did the customer want a "rush job" did you have to pause a bigger job to do this one? What would charge for that? These are questions others might want or need. If you could address them I'm sure your viewers would love to hear your experience in these matters. I know I would. Great video you've made I was very impressed. Keep up the great work!
@@denniswhite166 you're REALLY overthinking how to bid. The customer doesn't care about any of that, your bid shouldn't either (except the rush bit). Your overhead is accounted for in your hourly rate, as is your down time, cleaning, machine payments, etc. The unknown is how long it will take to make (experience tells you that) and material costs/how you handle mark ups.
@@42Fab OK I see your point but where I am your price would still be low but that might be because over head where I am is very high. Still, your methods are very sound. From the comments I see many who would like to see a video on "How to Estimate a Job" as would I. Thanks for your reply.
Quoting is pretty much the same way. Figure materials and time unless your new to fab most people have an idea of how long things take. Just remember that you always need to make $$.
@@robertnorman3181 That's easier said than done, but that is the jist of it. If there was a science behind it, I would love to know. Essentially, it still comes down to guessing if you price before hand.
Keep in mind that your markup ( 35 to 50% ) should be sufficient to cover all your overhead like rent / mortgage, electricity, machine write off etc etc. If that does not cut it your markup may be too low ( risk of losing clients if you increase it ) or your overhead may be too high ( either lower overhead or increase efficiency and / or sales )
I don't break my fees down this far. My labour charge is from the time I start the job until the time I finish the job. If it's not completed in one day, I add time segments together. I'm selling my time. It covers things like walking between machines, changing gas bottles, expendables, switching wire spools, office fees etc. A job in the $50-$300 range isn't worth that much billing detail. On a big job, there might be more detail, but it's of coarser data. That's just how I do it. It's been working 🤷♂️ I see myself as a hamster on a wheel, running 6 days a week. Someone comes along and buys up some of the 10 hours available for that day, and I just keep running on the wheel. lol
@@AcePhotoSverige Staying market-compliant and competitive is key. Find the balance between internal cost, offered value to client and amount to charge that will keep you in business
I'm a mobile mechanic. I repair mainly hilos, scissor lifts and such. I run into all types of repairs with diagnostics that can be minutes to hours. But every time I have to fabricate a part I am amazed at how much time I can spend making the simplest item like a bracket or a mount of some sort. Hats off to all you fabricators who can make a living doing this kind of work
Great pricing breakdown! That has to be one of the most important, yet most difficult aspects of running your own shop. A how-to quote video with a similar methodology would be great too!
In my 20s (now 57) I did a LOT of stainless work; stainless to stainless, stainless to mild steel, stainless to copper, and I felt like I slept with a tig torch in my hand. My very experienced hand says that YOUR tig work is phenomenal ! Great video
I had a business in a very depressed part of the country (everyone was broke except the local meth lab) and the problem I ran into was people bringing their own materials and there was usually something wrong with them that drove up the costs or labor , so I finally said "I have zero mark up on materials but I supply the materials so I can work efficiently" it worked well in my situation .
Yep I do a lot of work for farmers and they are terrible for this. One wanted a large pair of gates made for a cattle yard (25m long each) but wanted to use scrap metal from around the farm. Knowing the business very well I am certain there wasn't enough materials laying around the property and he wasn't very understanding that the labour cost would quadruple and outweigh the cost of materials with a much poorer end product.
All the principles used in calculating the cost of the "part" can be used in most business models based on service. I don't usually rate videos, but when I do it is because they contain and outstanding message, completely transparent and with integrity. Great video!
Pablo is correct that the time charge for welding didn't account for consumables, service time for changing gas bottles and sharpening tungstens, plus the time to go and swap the bottles and purchase more consumables. There was no accounting for the capital cost of the welder or the welding table and fixtures. Shop overheads, the work vehicle, the worker, worker benefits like holiday pay, sick pay, long service leave, superannuation, and professional development. The list seems almost endless.
@@ccox7198 In theory, a lower quality drafter would charge a lower rate and it would all come out in the wash. In practice, you gotta pick your shop well.
You guys are correct. You need to your true costs before you can get to a quoted sell price. Also different work Centers will have different costs. Take the plasma cutter, after working out all the costs(power,nozzles,gas etc) you need need to add a replacement cost amount or percentage for the machine, so you can purchase a new one when needed. And each work center needs a setup time as well. Because that material will not always be right next to the shears. There is no point charging $100 hr because the guy around the corner is charging that, when your labour cost could be $100. Sell price will always be reflective of the current market price for similar work. Know your cost is key, you then add maximum profit percentage to reach market price. Some products you might be able to add 50% others 10%. With info over time you will also know what type of jobs you make more profit on, these are the types you then concentrate on. Another thing to consider is your win/loss ratio. Keeping this at 50% ( this % will change depending on setup) will help you work out the local markets rates for you items and you will know if you a too expensive or to cheap. Sorry for the long reply
@@ccox7198 Sometimes jobs are so large that a flat drafting fee won't work. Say someone needs the bracket in question drawn up but the cardboard template is not provided and the drafter must design the part from what it bolts to? Would the flat fee for the part in the vid be the same as a full roll cage?
You have to do a quote video.... I’m guilty of most of things you said not to do 😬 that’s why I stick to rusty restos.... “you can’t have a quote because it’ll fall apart so it’s on the hour”😂
While watching your video I thought to myself" What about the markup? or "What about quoting" and every time you would immediately touch on the topic. You definitely know your stuff better than a lot of people in the metal fab business. I wish I had your channel or just insight when I started out, would've saved me a ton of struggle. Great video!
Back in 2009 I used an Xbox 360 controller on my CNC-machine to set the zero point. I used the controller to play "Halo" and "Crackdown" while the CNC-machine was doing its job after the initial setup. :)
Great video, I understand the part about breaking it so you would know how much it cost, but sometimes in the eyes of a customer that won't work. For example years ago I was in two-way radio and usually when we have to replace a part it cost $20 or $30 dollars (or more) and we would charge our 2 hour minimum of $30 an hour, and the customer felt they were getting their money's worth in parts and labor. But if we replaced a part that cost 25 cents, and charged that same $60 labor charge, they would go bonkers, so we would simply split the labor with the part so the part was 30.25 and the labor was 30, and we would end up with the same end cost. My boss said sometimes you have to fix the customer before you can fix the radio, because the psychology of billing is about keeping a customer happy with what they pay for.
This was a HUGE help, I work in the sign business and have been for about 30yrs now. I still have the biggest problem pricing signs, even tho I do know about how long it takes to design, fabricated, and make the sign but it still boils down to guessing sometimes and alot of times I'm off by a little. I would LOVE to see how you determine pricing before you start the job! This was so interesting
Once you have processes in place you can refine them. It takes a lot of stress out of things, as it puts you in control. It is also beneficial for the customer, as nothing looks more unprofessional than umming about price, or taking a long time to figure out cost. The thing often overlooked is when you break it down like this, it forces you to take notice of what you are spending, timewise AND materials. You can save yourself waste, and as it becomes normal to know what it is costing, you can then concentrate on what you love.. IE, the actual making of the product. This video was only 8 minutes and was also just exactly what it needed to be, many thanks for sharing this!
Nice video. As someone that's considered having things made but doesn't want to bother a fabricator with what I consider small jobs, this was a great breakdown.
It's pretty common to see "Shop Minimum" small job price of $150 or more. One thing to consider is the "in between" time associated with a job: the material didn't move itself from stock rack to each machine and the sheet didn't restock itself. And there's incidental consumables to consider, which were not mentioned--these need to be a line item, as does overhead. There are a lot of "associated" costs that are hard to tack onto small jobs. Maybe they just get lumped onto larger jobs that can more feasibly absorb them? This is the art of small business management! Best, Andrew @BranchAndFoundry
@@drewt3210 Everyone runs their setup differently but in my experience this gets charged as part your markup. In my world we refer to all the "in between" as "overhead" time. Additional costs also are things like calling in the material delivery, interaction with the client, shipping and handling (if needed), keeping YOUR records like time charged, etc. So part of that markup is your profit-margin and then part of that is overhead. Overhead is hard to quantify as a per-job basis (because some require more than others) but like you're alluding to, you also just can't eat your overhead. This doesn't work or scale well for all industries so your mileage may vary depending on application but that's the general idea.
@@drewt3210 I think you are correct. I just go with a minimum of 1/2 hour. The justification being there’s no job that takes less than a half hour, once you factor in all the incidentals.
That was quite likely the most useful video I’ve seen on RUclips this year. Thanks for breaking it down so cleanly. I struggle with this myself constantly and your explanation was concise and lucid and clear as a bell. Well done.
If I lived in your area I would absolutely patronize your business. The fact that you so clearly understand and display your business plan is great. You are spot on with you method for your pricing. Super fair to you and the customer. I have seen a lot of owners that just do the "double it" and guess method and they charge way to much for some stuff and nowhere near enough for other stuff. And usually not enough to balance it out.
Incredibly interesting and insightful video. I used the "seat of the pants" method and the "just double it" method when I had a construction/remodeling business. Most of the time, it worked well, but sometimes I got in way over my head and took some serious losses. I'm considering opening a small fabrication shop one of these days and I'm anxiously awaiting your next video. Thanks, Justin.
Dude I have been watching a lot of your videos and I got to say you are the real thing. I cant put it in any other words. How do you have time for this. Thanks for all the content.
Please make more videos on the business side of things, I'd love to learn more about it. quotes, sourcing, advertising, learning new skills, legal aspects, purchasing equipment, basically how you run your business and keep the lights on. Thank you.
Excellent video mate. As an autistic adult who is trying to work for themself but isn't actually either money focused or orientated clear concise and detail info like this is invaluable to me. I would really really love to see a video about quoting jobs too, as quoted jobs is alot more of the work i do and i tend to get ripped off or rip myself off. So a detail video on quoting like this video would be greatly appreciated.
Awesome! Finally someone on RUclips who's not scared to show actual pricing. Side note , I thought your hourly rate would be higher. Auto mechanics charged 120 150 in my area
Richard of 42Fab is another good guy who gives real world job cost/pricing breakdowns. Both Justin & Richard are rock solid dudes who go the extra mile for all of us! Adam Heffner of Maker Table is another one on a mission to help the little guy. Best, Andrew @BranchAndFoundry
Awesome video and breakdown. I do the same, but on the wood side, doing custom work. I would love to see a vid on your breakdown for jobs you haven't done before. I seem to be getting into a lot of that territory lately. Also, it's good for customers to know this is why you charge what you charge. It's not greed or just pulling numbers out of thin air, it's the cost of running a shop, machinery, paying bills, insurance, materials, paying yourself, your employees, etc. AAAAANNND, it's not something you can just bop over to a big box store and pick up. Cheers, bro. Thanks much
I would love to see a quote for a mobile job or for one where you only see pictures of an area the needs to be repaired. And they want a quote before you get the part
That is where experience comes in, often hard won with jobs that were done for very little money or no profit at all, profit is what you earn !! after all the costs have been dealt with, and the customer still thinks you charged more than enough.
@@michpatriot9097 this is what you earn today as an experienced person, and you appear to have done rather well, all credit to you, but this is nine years down the line, how many jobs in your first year didn't pay as well as you would have liked?. As a complete unknown with little experience it is very difficult to set realistic rates and expect custom, this is the situation many find themselves in starting out hence the desire for a video on quoting, the only advice I would give after twenty five years would be to sit down and look at ALL the costs that are there plus a wage you could get by on (not one you would like), and that should give a good start for an hourly rate, after that it is down to experience as to how long it would take. I started with gas welding before going to stick and mig, now looking to try tig for aluminum, any hints on what to buy or look out for?, this is for my own use as I do not weld commercially.
Im glad this was recommended to me. I have a side business, my Jobby (Job/Hobby) making river tables and resin lamps and so on. We break it down the way you say not to do, throw out numbers. We do try to break down our cost in material and such, then double it sorta thing. I sent this to my partner so we can follow your method and do it right. Much appreciated on our end.
Great episode, getting to learn more and more about running a business. A quota video and maybe other legal terms of running a small business would be great for beginner business owners. From either ones purchased property or simply from their home garage.
Austin Brown . . . You'll always be learning and paying to learn. I was a month short of age 41 when I started my business in 1979. I had always thought that I needed to learn more so I took accounting class, sales, business law, etc. and then took the big leap. Then I discovered that we pay to learn, by our mistakes, lack of experience, etc. I closed my business in 2001 but continued brokering jobs for a handful of customers and just this month I closed my sales tax reimbursement account with the state. I'm 82 and I figured I needed to reduce responsibilities eventually and now seemed to be a good time. I miss the customers, being helpful to them. I strongly agree with the fabricator in the video: it is important to understand your costs. Every business has a cost even when you're not doing any business. The meter is always running. The prices you charge depend largely on the value to the customer. Some people may quibble over any price. Others will gladly pay any price they can afford if you can have their job ready tomorrow morning so THEY can use it to make their living. Good luck. It's a great adventure.
@@nemo227 You will pay! You will enjoy paying! and you will enjoy paying again! You will make money! You will enjoy making money! and you will enjoy making money again! Little paradigm you reminded me about "You'll always be learning and paying to learn"
@@ApocalypsesandSurvival You are absolutely 100% correct. After about year 15 I told my wife that I had enough confidence to parachute into any city in the USA and I'd have a new business up and running within a couple of months. Reality, of course, can be quite different but I had the confidence. The history of all of the successful people (business, entertainment, etc. ) that I've read about has a common thread: perseverance. If you're in business or working on some other project, good luck to you.
If you quote on the high side and do it faster that's a bonus. You can either keep the extra, or tell the customer you did it cheaper than quoted and charge him less. That helps make repeat customers.
Straight talking clarity . I reckon every tool has a realistic lifespan and one should be saving for the next replacement ( upgrade 😀👍)from day one , even as a hobby . Thank you , great neat presentation and some cool process
I noticed that as well. There is also quite a bit of time not being charged such as set up, material gathering, estimating, invoicing etc. On a small job like this it wouldn't be much but on a larger job. Especially if accuracy is important.
In another vid he goes through how to work out your hourly rate and this is basically what it costs to run the business Inc rent etc and profit margin. Pretty sure consumables were covered in that $100/he but also the material market would be 10 fold the consumable costs
Justin, Excellent break down mate ! Yes, the first one is always the hardest to bid. Here is a little trick I do : I use an hour meter when I am working on a job. If someone comes into my shop, I turn it off. When they leave, I turn it on. Phone answers, timer off. Phone call ends, timer on. Lunch time, same thing. If you are pretty faithful with the timer, it can become a valuable tool when bidding "The next one". "We" work at creating, mechanics work at repairs. They have a rate book, "We" don't. Your video was great. More please !
I’d be all over a video on how to quote ahead of time. I think that would be super duper helpful. This video was also super helpful. It’s an interesting refinement on how I’ve thought on pricing.
Quotes are difficult and people should be told at the beginning that they aren't a final price, and the price could go up. It comes with experience, but also calling someone at the first oppurtunity that something comes up that would change the price. Don't do anything else until they agree. If you spent less than 30 minutes on it, dependign on your local market, best to give it back if they say no without charge, above that, charge for only labour
What happened to that sheet of aluminum after it was cut? How long did it take to walk between stations? General cleanup? Should consider rounding up that 35 to 45 minutes in the quote
video on quotes please, this was very detailed, informal and helpful. I my self started a fabrication company about 2 years ago and Ive got a lot better at pricing, but theres always room to grow and learn more.
Very nice and realistic. One question: how about your machines, rent, etc.? Is that in your markup, and does it all cover it? Cheers! Very good video, keeping it real.
This is where your labor rate is determined. You need to know how much the overhead costs are plus what you want for take home pay and divide by the hours you want to work. Say rent, repairs, budgeting for new tooling, etc is $2000/mo and you want to take home $3000/mo while working 40hrs/wk would be $5000/160hrs= $31.25/hr
Yes and no and there are lots of ways of handling this. His 100 per hour covers a whole multitude of costs which get shared with other jobs. This covers insurance, rent, advertising, electric, and a ton of other stuff. It can also include an average amount for mistakes time, or he could add this as a fixed time charge based upon how risky the job is. He did spend 3 minutes cleaning up, but I can guarantee he spent way more time than that handling the client enquiry, dealing with payment etc. I also think he short-changed himself in materials, because if he can't use that offcut of aluminium then that is a further cost, and those welding rods aren't free either.
Thank you, it’s great to see how someone else bids a job. I find the more costly the job the more chance of losing money so accuracy is key. Figuring out time is the most difficult, especially if you have never done that type of project before.
When I was studying I used to work in a workshop where we had a laser cutter and the boss was charging whatever he wanted....he never took in mind all the stuff you spoke of in your video! I could never understand his way of charging parts! Nice work!
Great video as always. This time though I'm left with a huge question: To me it seems that only if you have your days and weeks fully booked with jobs like this (with zero idle minutes) , you end up with enough money to pay for your overhead. I'm talking light bill, rent of your shop space, depreciation on your (awesome!) equipment, interest on your loan for that equipment, etc. Am I missing something here? Long story short, I would have charged $250 for the same piece, so from now on I will order them from you, resell for $150 and close my shop (of course I won't, but you get the idea :-). So again, what am I missing here?
The guy seems satisfied to do work like this but he did miss one critical component. He forgot to pay the business. Paying the business is important for ambition and expanding. Essentially he forgot to markup his labor. One set of labor to be paid to an employee and the markup is to be paid to the business.
Simple. Dude didnt pay for the robot slicy-dicey gizmo. He doesn't consider wire as material nor sanding discs, shop supplies. He lives in a fantasy world behind a microphone doing half the math. Why didn't you ask him why he decided, in his creative license, to make the piece 30% heavier than the customers template and why he removed material along the welded corner?
I'm curious what the price would be on this part with two bends and a single weld, assuming you had a brake large enough for that, just for comparison.
That's what the hourly rate usually contains, so it is factored in to every job done. But on the other hand, buying expensive machines/systems usually makes the jobs go easy & faster, which translates to less time spent on a job/part, so buying machines to make your life easy might very well translate to cheaper parts, and thus more sales volume as you get to be more competitive. Delicate balance, but knowing your numbers and where they come from helps a lot with decision making.
@@JaakkoF depends how much business your doing and how big your company is.For a one man band it must be a big investment and work 24 hours a day maybe.
vids like this really help. I have a garage here at home with a 10k lift , fab tools (still getting more), etc. I do general garage work and some welding repairs. Getting better lately at keeping track of my time and material use/costs to properly cost out a job. I just do it as a side gig right now. Maybe one day a little more but I have a full time job.
Well, there's 2 ways to look at that job. There's the guy that wants the part made and just pays what is owed and then there is the guy like me that when you told me it would be $85 to make that small piece I would tell you for that amount I will just make it myself and then you got zero dollars.
If you got the skills and hardware... then it makes no sense for you to go to someone. Your comment is really voided. If you don't have the skills or the hardware... then you go hire someone that does. If it's too expensive you shop around or you go fuck yourself.
Most honest business fabricator ever. Bay Area price on this would run easy $350-450. They bill 10 mins of welding 16an bungs at 150 on the last job around here.
3rd year metal fabrication apprentice. This was covered a couple of days in school. At first my thoughts were, why do I need to know this, I just fabricate. But realized, good to know is get to do your own fabrication on side or get your own shop
I am very much a numbers guy, I always work it out like you did. Id love to see your formula for quoting a job! The unknown variables and hiccups can add up quick.
Loved this. Helps understand business model for those just starting and not sure how to charge. Anything more on this topic you can share would be great!
I dont do a lot of fab work in my home shop, but this deff was a big help in other ways. I would love to see a quote video, I have the hardest time with that.
I work for a metal stamping and welding company for high-volume parts for the automotive industry. This is essentially how we calculate how much a part costs to make. We have standard labor rates and machine rates so if you can figure out how fast to progressively stamp a part (which is fairly easy as if you know the SPM on an automatic press) then add in the material cost and that's it. We do add in a percentage of the selling price for both SG&A and profit. They can vary but usually a combined percent of around 15-20% of the total price. A simple excel spreadsheet with the rates works great. Just fill in the variables such as material usage (Usually cubic inches) & cost per cubic inch, pieces per hour, percent of SG&A and profit and it'll spit out a number. Then you're pretty consistent at pricing. The hard part is knowing how many parts per hour unless you already have that info.
Been doing on the spot modifications/alterations/ fabrications and pricing is the hardest part to me, I don’t want to overcharge but I don’t want to underbid it. Lately I have been giving a price range and making it clear that it would be priced according to time & difficulty. Really need rate tutorials. Thanks
You can always break down the welding cost further to the throat thickness specified and have a rate at each. If you have a job that is calling for a multi pass 1/2 fillet on thicker material for example your consumable cost is going to be a lot higher than a weld as shown. Great tips!
This is really great information! It took until after I got out of a business to realize how much I had been undervaluing my services. One of my former customers got a quote that required as much money up front for the work as I was charging for the entire year.
Your absolutely right on getting your cost tracking accurate because at some point you will need all that information entered into a database for future estimates and continue to update years ago I started small using QB PRO Contractors addition and it was a huge burden to enter the entire all the cost code into the estimating data base but was glad I did because it was great time saver. Your overhead will eat you alive if your time spent on estimating and Billings payables etc so I recommend using a general condition or some method of covering those behind the seines cost , like insurance , rent utilities fuel , mileage . One way to do that simplified is a retail profit wheel It will make you not go broke 50% profit is not what you think Look it up and most will be surprised . Great topic & videos always 👍
Quite frankly, when you have the numbers and they make sense. The customer can see this breakdown and be confident about the part and it's value. Everything you list is perfectly reasonable and if the customer wanted a second part, he can save himself the $50 bucks. That becomes clear ONLY, because you break it down so well. THAT is how it's done!!!
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Seems like a low ball price to me but I'm in NYC area. I would like to see how you estimate the price you give the customer before you fabricate. Are all the tools/machines fully paid for in your shop? Do you figure in the price of overhead in your shop before you even give an estimate? What about those days when you have no work? Your landlord (or bank) still wants his rent/mortgage payment
during your shop's idle time. How many competitors in your area are you bidding for this same job? did the customer want a "rush job" did you have to pause a bigger job to do this one? What would charge for that? These are questions others might want or need. If you could address them I'm sure your viewers would love to hear your experience in these matters. I know I would. Great video you've made I was very impressed. Keep up the great work!
@@denniswhite166 you're REALLY overthinking how to bid. The customer doesn't care about any of that, your bid shouldn't either (except the rush bit).
Your overhead is accounted for in your hourly rate, as is your down time, cleaning, machine payments, etc.
The unknown is how long it will take to make (experience tells you that) and material costs/how you handle mark ups.
@@42Fab OK I see your point but where I am your price would still be low but that might be because over head where I am is very high. Still, your methods are very sound. From the comments I see many who would like to see a video on "How to Estimate a Job" as would I. Thanks for your reply.
Awesome thank you so much I really enjoyed your video . Very helpful very useful info
Awesome would love to see the estimating video. I have an electrical business and seriously need to charge WAY MORE!!!
Im interested in a quoting video. That would be beneficial for so many people.
Quoting is pretty much the same way. Figure materials and time unless your new to fab most people have an idea of how long things take. Just remember that you always need to make $$.
Agree
Interested
@@robertnorman3181 That's easier said than done, but that is the jist of it. If there was a science behind it, I would love to know. Essentially, it still comes down to guessing if you price before hand.
Yeah me too
Keep in mind that your markup ( 35 to 50% ) should be sufficient to cover all your overhead like rent / mortgage, electricity, machine write off etc etc. If that does not cut it your markup may be too low ( risk of losing clients if you increase it ) or your overhead may be too high ( either lower overhead or increase efficiency and / or sales )
I don't break my fees down this far. My labour charge is from the time I start the job until the time I finish the job. If it's not completed in one day, I add time segments together. I'm selling my time. It covers things like walking between machines, changing gas bottles, expendables, switching wire spools, office fees etc.
A job in the $50-$300 range isn't worth that much billing detail. On a big job, there might be more detail, but it's of coarser data.
That's just how I do it. It's been working 🤷♂️
I see myself as a hamster on a wheel, running 6 days a week. Someone comes along and buys up some of the 10 hours available for that day, and I just keep running on the wheel. lol
So charge $100 an hour, and the markup should pay all the OH cost.... seems a little to high
@@FixNewsPlease It's not how you charge the client, it's how you do your internal cost calc breakdown to understand your numbers and business
@@AcePhotoSverige Staying market-compliant and competitive is key. Find the balance between internal cost, offered value to client and amount to charge that will keep you in business
@@MHTutorials3D I spend my time making money, not filing data. To each his own.
I'm a mobile mechanic. I repair mainly hilos, scissor lifts and such. I run into all types of repairs with diagnostics that can be minutes to hours. But every time I have to fabricate a part I am amazed at how much time I can spend making the simplest item like a bracket or a mount of some sort. Hats off to all you fabricators who can make a living doing this kind of work
Great pricing breakdown! That has to be one of the most important, yet most difficult aspects of running your own shop. A how-to quote video with a similar methodology would be great too!
In my 20s (now 57) I did a LOT of stainless work; stainless to stainless, stainless to mild steel, stainless to copper, and I felt like I slept with a tig torch in my hand. My very experienced hand says that YOUR tig work is phenomenal ! Great video
I had a business in a very depressed part of the country (everyone was broke except the local meth lab) and the problem I ran into was people bringing their own materials and there was usually something wrong with them that drove up the costs or labor , so I finally said "I have zero mark up on materials but I supply the materials so I can work efficiently" it worked well in my situation .
Yep I do a lot of work for farmers and they are terrible for this. One wanted a large pair of gates made for a cattle yard (25m long each) but wanted to use scrap metal from around the farm. Knowing the business very well I am certain there wasn't enough materials laying around the property and he wasn't very understanding that the labour cost would quadruple and outweigh the cost of materials with a much poorer end product.
great point... what was that particular business type?
@@ACoustaDC Basically everything relating to electrical and increasingly electronics , I tried not to turn down any paying jobs.
What part of the country was this, out of curiosity?
@@timothyandrewnielsen Point dexter ferry Oklahoma
Couldn't ask for a better episode
I have a welding side hustle and this was a big help. Thanks man. Also the video on giving quotes would be much appreciated
All the principles used in calculating the cost of the "part" can be used in most business models based on service. I don't usually rate videos, but when I do it is because they contain and outstanding message, completely transparent and with integrity. Great video!
Yes please. As a small welding/fabrication business owner myself I would love a video on the business side, especially quoting.
You should talk about how your markup and hourly rate needs to cover things like consumables, overhead, etc., as well as the idle time between jobs.
Pablo is correct that the time charge for welding didn't account for consumables, service time for changing gas bottles and sharpening tungstens, plus the time to go and swap the bottles and purchase more consumables. There was no accounting for the capital cost of the welder or the welding table and fixtures. Shop overheads, the work vehicle, the worker, worker benefits like holiday pay, sick pay, long service leave, superannuation, and professional development. The list seems almost endless.
@@markfryer9880 my thoughts exactly
@@ccox7198 In theory, a lower quality drafter would charge a lower rate and it would all come out in the wash. In practice, you gotta pick your shop well.
You guys are correct. You need to your true costs before you can get to a quoted sell price. Also different work Centers will have different costs. Take the plasma cutter, after working out all the costs(power,nozzles,gas etc) you need need to add a replacement cost amount or percentage for the machine, so you can purchase a new one when needed. And each work center needs a setup time as well. Because that material will not always be right next to the shears. There is no point charging $100 hr because the guy around the corner is charging that, when your labour cost could be $100. Sell price will always be reflective of the current market price for similar work. Know your cost is key, you then add maximum profit percentage to reach market price. Some products you might be able to add 50% others 10%. With info over time you will also know what type of jobs you make more profit on, these are the types you then concentrate on. Another thing to consider is your win/loss ratio. Keeping this at 50% ( this % will change depending on setup) will help you work out the local markets rates for you items and you will know if you a too expensive or to cheap. Sorry for the long reply
@@ccox7198 Sometimes jobs are so large that a flat drafting fee won't work. Say someone needs the bracket in question drawn up but the cardboard template is not provided and the drafter must design the part from what it bolts to? Would the flat fee for the part in the vid be the same as a full roll cage?
Oh yes. I would like to see a follow up video on doing a quote like that.
You have to do a quote video.... I’m guilty of most of things you said not to do 😬 that’s why I stick to rusty restos.... “you can’t have a quote because it’ll fall apart so it’s on the hour”😂
While watching your video I thought to myself" What about the markup? or "What about quoting" and every time you would immediately touch on the topic. You definitely know your stuff better than a lot of people in the metal fab business. I wish I had your channel or just insight when I started out, would've saved me a ton of struggle. Great video!
No one talking about how he is using an X Box controller to control the cutter head positioning!?
That's so cool!!
it's to set the zero point... i have a cnc too but this is so awesome!!!
maybe he playing halo too
Back in 2009 I used an Xbox 360 controller on my CNC-machine to set the zero point. I used the controller to play "Halo" and "Crackdown" while the CNC-machine was doing its job after the initial setup. :)
I thought I was dreaming when I saw that
Great video, I understand the part about breaking it so you would know how much it cost, but sometimes in the eyes of a customer that won't work. For example years ago I was in two-way radio and usually when we have to replace a part it cost $20 or $30 dollars (or more) and we would charge our 2 hour minimum of $30 an hour, and the customer felt they were getting their money's worth in parts and labor. But if we replaced a part that cost 25 cents, and charged that same $60 labor charge, they would go bonkers, so we would simply split the labor with the part so the part was 30.25 and the labor was 30, and we would end up with the same end cost. My boss said sometimes you have to fix the customer before you can fix the radio, because the psychology of billing is about keeping a customer happy with what they pay for.
This was a HUGE help, I work in the sign business and have been for about 30yrs now. I still have the biggest problem pricing signs, even tho I do know about how long it takes to design, fabricated, and make the sign but it still boils down to guessing sometimes and alot of times I'm off by a little. I would LOVE to see how you determine pricing before you start the job! This was so interesting
Yes, a quoting video on a job never before done would be amazing!
Once you have processes in place you can refine them. It takes a lot of stress out of things, as it puts you in control. It is also beneficial for the customer, as nothing looks more unprofessional than umming about price, or taking a long time to figure out cost. The thing often overlooked is when you break it down like this, it forces you to take notice of what you are spending, timewise AND materials. You can save yourself waste, and as it becomes normal to know what it is costing, you can then concentrate on what you love.. IE, the actual making of the product. This video was only 8 minutes and was also just exactly what it needed to be, many thanks for sharing this!
Nice video. As someone that's considered having things made but doesn't want to bother a fabricator with what I consider small jobs, this was a great breakdown.
Do a quote video I need that !
Very honest pricing, I feel like you would never get that type of pricing for a one off part at any fab shop in my area.
It's pretty common to see "Shop Minimum" small job price of $150 or more. One thing to consider is the "in between" time associated with a job: the material didn't move itself from stock rack to each machine and the sheet didn't restock itself. And there's incidental consumables to consider, which were not mentioned--these need to be a line item, as does overhead. There are a lot of "associated" costs that are hard to tack onto small jobs. Maybe they just get lumped onto larger jobs that can more feasibly absorb them? This is the art of small business management! Best, Andrew @BranchAndFoundry
@@drewt3210 Everyone runs their setup differently but in my experience this gets charged as part your markup. In my world we refer to all the "in between" as "overhead" time. Additional costs also are things like calling in the material delivery, interaction with the client, shipping and handling (if needed), keeping YOUR records like time charged, etc. So part of that markup is your profit-margin and then part of that is overhead. Overhead is hard to quantify as a per-job basis (because some require more than others) but like you're alluding to, you also just can't eat your overhead. This doesn't work or scale well for all industries so your mileage may vary depending on application but that's the general idea.
Alibaba put out a rfq and got 50 aluminum 100x100 faceplates cut for 86 bucks
My old boss used to complain because i would make a pattern for a part before i would make it in aluminum or steel. Guess he just didn't understand
@@drewt3210 I think you are correct. I just go with a minimum of 1/2 hour. The justification being there’s no job that takes less than a half hour, once you factor in all the incidentals.
That was quite likely the most useful video I’ve seen on RUclips this year. Thanks for breaking it down so cleanly. I struggle with this myself constantly and your explanation was concise and lucid and clear as a bell. Well done.
If I lived in your area I would absolutely patronize your business. The fact that you so clearly understand and display your business plan is great. You are spot on with you method for your pricing. Super fair to you and the customer. I have seen a lot of owners that just do the "double it" and guess method and they charge way to much for some stuff and nowhere near enough for other stuff. And usually not enough to balance it out.
That was a great breakdown of the way you charge. No gimmicks or guessing, just straight data driven information 🤘🏻
Yes definitely please do a quoted video without having done the job before.
Incredibly interesting and insightful video. I used the "seat of the pants" method and the "just double it" method when I had a construction/remodeling business. Most of the time, it worked well, but sometimes I got in way over my head and took some serious losses. I'm considering opening a small fabrication shop one of these days and I'm anxiously awaiting your next video. Thanks, Justin.
I think we'd all appreciate a quote video. I may do alot of work for friends that I cut down on, but I'm terrible at pricing out my work.
Dude I have been watching a lot of your videos and I got to say you are the real thing. I cant put it in any other words. How do you have time for this. Thanks for all the content.
Please make more videos on the business side of things, I'd love to learn more about it. quotes, sourcing, advertising, learning new skills, legal aspects, purchasing equipment, basically how you run your business and keep the lights on. Thank you.
Excellent video mate. As an autistic adult who is trying to work for themself but isn't actually either money focused or orientated clear concise and detail info like this is invaluable to me. I would really really love to see a video about quoting jobs too, as quoted jobs is alot more of the work i do and i tend to get ripped off or rip myself off. So a detail video on quoting like this video would be greatly appreciated.
Awesome! Finally someone on RUclips who's not scared to show actual pricing. Side note , I thought your hourly rate would be higher. Auto mechanics charged 120 150 in my area
Richard of 42Fab is another good guy who gives real world job cost/pricing breakdowns. Both Justin & Richard are rock solid dudes who go the extra mile for all of us! Adam Heffner of Maker Table is another one on a mission to help the little guy. Best, Andrew @BranchAndFoundry
Thats on the high-end of double what mechanics charge/hr in most areas
@@alabastardmasterson here in nj , that's the going rate
@@Emilthehun I think in any metropolitan area that sounds about right
Doing fab aluminum right now making air filter containers for hydronic boilers and thinking about pricing. Hoping you make that next video.
Excellent tutorial on how to stay in business! It doesn't matter what you do, this is vital information on structure.
Awesome video and breakdown. I do the same, but on the wood side, doing custom work. I would love to see a vid on your breakdown for jobs you haven't done before. I seem to be getting into a lot of that territory lately. Also, it's good for customers to know this is why you charge what you charge. It's not greed or just pulling numbers out of thin air, it's the cost of running a shop, machinery, paying bills, insurance, materials, paying yourself, your employees, etc. AAAAANNND, it's not something you can just bop over to a big box store and pick up. Cheers, bro. Thanks much
Ya a quoting vid would be good. I struggle at it and pretty much always underestimate the time a job will take.
I would love to see a quote for a mobile job or for one where you only see pictures of an area the needs to be repaired. And they want a quote before you get the part
Sometimes they dont even show picture
That is where experience comes in, often hard won with jobs that were done for very little money or no profit at all, profit is what you earn !! after all the costs have been dealt with, and the customer still thinks you charged more than enough.
$175 for first hour onsite $100 every additional hour onsite...9yrs mobile TIG welding...85% repeated customer business and yearly growth..
@@michpatriot9097 this is what you earn today as an experienced person, and you appear to have done rather well, all credit to you, but this is nine years down the line, how many jobs in your first year didn't pay as well as you would have liked?. As a complete unknown with little experience it is very difficult to set realistic rates and expect custom, this is the situation many find themselves in starting out hence the desire for a video on quoting, the only advice I would give after twenty five years would be to sit down and look at ALL the costs that are there plus a wage you could get by on (not one you would like), and that should give a good start for an hourly rate, after that it is down to experience as to how long it would take.
I started with gas welding before going to stick and mig, now looking to try tig for aluminum, any hints on what to buy or look out for?, this is for my own use as I do not weld commercially.
I like seeing how you calculate the cost. I would be interested in seeing more.
I had an idea i posted above i was hoping for ideas/ feedback from anyone
Im glad this was recommended to me. I have a side business, my Jobby (Job/Hobby) making river tables and resin lamps and so on. We break it down the way you say not to do, throw out numbers. We do try to break down our cost in material and such, then double it sorta thing. I sent this to my partner so we can follow your method and do it right. Much appreciated on our end.
Another vote for the quoting video, I'm just starting to take on side jobs and would definitely benefit from it!
Great episode, getting to learn more and more about running a business. A quota video and maybe other legal terms of running a small business would be great for beginner business owners. From either ones purchased property or simply from their home garage.
Austin Brown . . . You'll always be learning and paying to learn. I was a month short of age 41 when I started my business in 1979. I had always thought that I needed to learn more so I took accounting class, sales, business law, etc. and then took the big leap. Then I discovered that we pay to learn, by our mistakes, lack of experience, etc. I closed my business in 2001 but continued brokering jobs for a handful of customers and just this month I closed my sales tax reimbursement account with the state. I'm 82 and I figured I needed to reduce responsibilities eventually and now seemed to be a good time. I miss the customers, being helpful to them. I strongly agree with the fabricator in the video: it is important to understand your costs. Every business has a cost even when you're not doing any business. The meter is always running. The prices you charge depend largely on the value to the customer. Some people may quibble over any price. Others will gladly pay any price they can afford if you can have their job ready tomorrow morning so THEY can use it to make their living. Good luck. It's a great adventure.
@@nemo227 You will pay! You will enjoy paying! and you will enjoy paying again! You will make money! You will enjoy making money! and you will enjoy making money again!
Little paradigm you reminded me about "You'll always be learning and paying to learn"
@@ApocalypsesandSurvival You are absolutely 100% correct. After about year 15 I told my wife that I had enough confidence to parachute into any city in the USA and I'd have a new business up and running within a couple of months. Reality, of course, can be quite different but I had the confidence. The history of all of the successful people (business, entertainment, etc. ) that I've read about has a common thread: perseverance. If you're in business or working on some other project, good luck to you.
That'd be a handy video, always a sticking point, always seem to underestimate time it'll take
If you estimate on the high side, you always look better when the cost comes in lower.
@@frankdeon6539 - thanks
If you quote on the high side and do it faster that's a bonus. You can either keep the extra, or tell the customer you did it cheaper than quoted and charge him less. That helps make repeat customers.
@@jonarmstrong6214 - cheers, makes sense 👍
@@jonarmstrong6214,perfect sense! I have repeat customers because of this advice
This is the stuff most guys wont talk about.. definatly go over quotes!
Yep your take on quoting would be great. An educated guess of labour time and a list of common prices for parts/materials is all I got. Cheers J
Straight talking clarity . I reckon every tool has a realistic lifespan and one should be saving for the next replacement ( upgrade 😀👍)from day one , even as a hobby .
Thank you , great neat presentation and some cool process
Definitely need a quote video!
I’m curious. How do you figure in consumables, welding gas, filler rod, sanding/grinding disks etc? Is that part of your labor cost?
My guess would be that he factors that into the flat fee portion
@@zackrogers9334 I think he said the $50 flat fee was for drafting.
I noticed that as well. There is also quite a bit of time not being charged such as set up, material gathering, estimating, invoicing etc. On a small job like this it wouldn't be much but on a larger job. Especially if accuracy is important.
Consumables should be changed separately to actual labour to avoid accounting and tax problems.
In another vid he goes through how to work out your hourly rate and this is basically what it costs to run the business Inc rent etc and profit margin. Pretty sure consumables were covered in that $100/he but also the material market would be 10 fold the consumable costs
Dope I’m glad this popped up on my recommendation. Definitely need a quote video
Justin, Excellent break down mate ! Yes, the first one is always the hardest to bid. Here is a little trick I do : I use an hour meter when I am working on a job. If someone comes into my shop, I turn it off. When they leave, I turn it on. Phone answers, timer off. Phone call ends, timer on. Lunch time, same thing. If you are pretty faithful with the timer, it can become a valuable tool when bidding "The next one". "We" work at creating, mechanics work at repairs. They have a rate book, "We" don't. Your video was great. More please !
I’d be all over a video on how to quote ahead of time. I think that would be super duper helpful. This video was also super helpful. It’s an interesting refinement on how I’ve thought on pricing.
I would like to see a video on how you quote jobs!
Quotes are what I struggle with most, trying to estimate the time something takes. So would definitely like see a quote video 👍
Quotes are difficult and people should be told at the beginning that they aren't a final price, and the price could go up. It comes with experience, but also calling someone at the first oppurtunity that something comes up that would change the price. Don't do anything else until they agree. If you spent less than 30 minutes on it, dependign on your local market, best to give it back if they say no without charge, above that, charge for only labour
What happened to that sheet of aluminum after it was cut? How long did it take to walk between stations? General cleanup? Should consider rounding up that 35 to 45 minutes in the quote
Lol
Not to mention mistakes made during cutting and fabrication. Shop soiling or damage to materials.
Pretty sure the dude makes his money via RUclips, not fab work.
It took me years to figure out how to break down jobs like that. Quotes are something I always struggle with. Appreciate the knowledge!
video on quotes please, this was very detailed, informal and helpful. I my self started a fabrication company about 2 years ago and Ive got a lot better at pricing, but theres always room to grow and learn more.
Very nice and realistic. One question: how about your machines, rent, etc.? Is that in your markup, and does it all cover it? Cheers! Very good video, keeping it real.
This is where your labor rate is determined. You need to know how much the overhead costs are plus what you want for take home pay and divide by the hours you want to work. Say rent, repairs, budgeting for new tooling, etc is $2000/mo and you want to take home $3000/mo while working 40hrs/wk would be $5000/160hrs= $31.25/hr
Definitely do a quote video!
I'm curious, wouldn't you have to eat the 3 minutes of prep time because you messed up the settings?
Yes and no and there are lots of ways of handling this. His 100 per hour covers a whole multitude of costs which get shared with other jobs. This covers insurance, rent, advertising, electric, and a ton of other stuff. It can also include an average amount for mistakes time, or he could add this as a fixed time charge based upon how risky the job is. He did spend 3 minutes cleaning up, but I can guarantee he spent way more time than that handling the client enquiry, dealing with payment etc. I also think he short-changed himself in materials, because if he can't use that offcut of aluminium then that is a further cost, and those welding rods aren't free either.
@@stuartgreenshields5591 doesnt matter even people around me know their mistake is their fix they would eat the 3 mins
Thank you, it’s great to see how someone else bids a job. I find the more costly the job the more chance of losing money so accuracy is key. Figuring out time is the most difficult, especially if you have never done that type of project before.
When I was studying I used to work in a workshop where we had a laser cutter and the boss was charging whatever he wanted....he never took in mind all the stuff you spoke of in your video! I could never understand his way of charging parts!
Nice work!
Great video as always. This time though I'm left with a huge question: To me it seems that only if you have your days and weeks fully booked with jobs like this (with zero idle minutes) , you end up with enough money to pay for your overhead. I'm talking light bill, rent of your shop space, depreciation on your (awesome!) equipment, interest on your loan for that equipment, etc. Am I missing something here? Long story short, I would have charged $250 for the same piece, so from now on I will order them from you, resell for $150 and close my shop (of course I won't, but you get the idea :-). So again, what am I missing here?
The guy seems satisfied to do work like this but he did miss one critical component. He forgot to pay the business. Paying the business is important for ambition and expanding. Essentially he forgot to markup his labor. One set of labor to be paid to an employee and the markup is to be paid to the business.
@@Imaboss8ball The $100/hr would include business markup on labour.
Simple.
Dude didnt pay for the robot slicy-dicey gizmo.
He doesn't consider wire as material nor sanding discs, shop supplies.
He lives in a fantasy world behind a microphone doing half the math.
Why didn't you ask him why he decided, in his creative license, to make the piece 30% heavier than the customers template and why he removed material along the welded corner?
I'm curious what the price would be on this part with two bends and a single weld, assuming you had a brake large enough for that, just for comparison.
Less
That's very interesting but the cost of your kit must come into consideration as well like the CAD system your using and the CNC laser cutter.
That's what the hourly rate usually contains, so it is factored in to every job done. But on the other hand, buying expensive machines/systems usually makes the jobs go easy & faster, which translates to less time spent on a job/part, so buying machines to make your life easy might very well translate to cheaper parts, and thus more sales volume as you get to be more competitive.
Delicate balance, but knowing your numbers and where they come from helps a lot with decision making.
@@JaakkoF depends how much business your doing and how big your company is.For a one man band it must be a big investment and work 24 hours a day maybe.
You should be a radio guy, so relaxing and nice voice. You explain everything perfect, as it is. I watched it with joy.
Subscribing right now.
vids like this really help. I have a garage here at home with a 10k lift , fab tools (still getting more), etc. I do general garage work and some welding repairs. Getting better lately at keeping track of my time and material use/costs to properly cost out a job. I just do it as a side gig right now. Maybe one day a little more but I have a full time job.
Well, there's 2 ways to look at that job. There's the guy that wants the part made and just pays what is owed and then there is the guy like me that when you told me it would be $85 to make that small piece I would tell you for that amount I will just make it myself and then you got zero dollars.
If you got the skills and hardware... then it makes no sense for you to go to someone. Your comment is really voided. If you don't have the skills or the hardware... then you go hire someone that does. If it's too expensive you shop around or you go fuck yourself.
Most honest business fabricator ever. Bay Area price on this would run easy $350-450. They bill 10 mins of welding 16an bungs at 150 on the last job around here.
Love that method. Very honest and fair system for pricing. Would love to see your method for pricing a job never done before. Thanks!
I learned a lot more from this than I thought I would.
Great video mate, appreciate you taking the time to make and share.
I love your accounting as I teach my student the same type of costing in inventory systems in manufacturing. lovely stuff
3rd year metal fabrication apprentice.
This was covered a couple of days in school.
At first my thoughts were, why do I need to know this, I just fabricate. But realized, good to know is get to do your own fabrication on side or get your own shop
Really enjoy how you break down everything so we can easily follow along. Thanks for your efforts.
This logic and math is helping me decide my mobile mechanic job prices.
Thanks and great work.
I am very much a numbers guy, I always work it out like you did. Id love to see your formula for quoting a job! The unknown variables and hiccups can add up quick.
You have come Hella long way since I first ever watched one of your videos. Quality work, quality footage with a quality breakdown. 👌
I like how you're honest about screwing something up and charging the customer more because of it. Classy.
I noticed that also. I think the logic is he would of taken time either way to incur a cost so it probably evened out or maybe was less time.
Excellent video, and I am sure the quote-before-do video would be equally interesting!
Wow this video is truly eye opener for a aspiring fabricator for my own device R and D...thank you for this video.
Loved this. Helps understand business model for those just starting and not sure how to charge. Anything more on this topic you can share would be great!
Im very interested in quotes, bids, and the garage start up too. I hope you put all relevant videos into a playlist.
I dont do a lot of fab work in my home shop, but this deff was a big help in other ways. I would love to see a quote video, I have the hardest time with that.
Yes, estimating is a mystery to me. Training video would be nice. Thanks for the pricing tutorial, very clear explanation.
I work for a metal stamping and welding company for high-volume parts for the automotive industry. This is essentially how we calculate how much a part costs to make. We have standard labor rates and machine rates so if you can figure out how fast to progressively stamp a part (which is fairly easy as if you know the SPM on an automatic press) then add in the material cost and that's it. We do add in a percentage of the selling price for both SG&A and profit. They can vary but usually a combined percent of around 15-20% of the total price.
A simple excel spreadsheet with the rates works great. Just fill in the variables such as material usage (Usually cubic inches) & cost per cubic inch, pieces per hour, percent of SG&A and profit and it'll spit out a number. Then you're pretty consistent at pricing. The hard part is knowing how many parts per hour unless you already have that info.
And this is reason why I'm following this channel!!!! Great explanation and great footage. Keep up with great work!!!
Been doing on the spot modifications/alterations/ fabrications and pricing is the hardest part to me, I don’t want to overcharge but I don’t want to underbid it. Lately I have been giving a price range and making it clear that it would be priced according to time & difficulty. Really need rate tutorials. Thanks
Hard to argue with honesty. Nice work 👍🏻
Yup, best chanel for welders by far
You can always break down the welding cost further to the throat thickness specified and have a rate at each. If you have a job that is calling for a multi pass 1/2 fillet on thicker material for example your consumable cost is going to be a lot higher than a weld as shown.
Great tips!
This is really great information! It took until after I got out of a business to realize how much I had been undervaluing my services. One of my former customers got a quote that required as much money up front for the work as I was charging for the entire year.
Pretty well broken down charges for some honest work... thumbs up
Great video! I’d definitely be interested in a quote video also, that’s been the biggest struggle for me. Thanks!
You teach so calmly and precisely. It’s almost soothing to listen to you, bring a quoting video for sure please 🙏🏼
Brilliantly useful information for the rest of us who don't happen to own 3D metal printers. Thank you.
Thanks for all your the details you have provided us with. All the information you provided was very useful to me as a starting company.
Your absolutely right on getting your cost tracking accurate because at some point you will need all that information entered into a database for future estimates and continue to update years ago I started small using QB PRO Contractors addition and it was a huge burden to enter the entire all the cost code into the estimating data base but was glad I did because it was great time saver. Your overhead will eat you alive if your time spent on estimating and Billings payables etc so I recommend using a general condition or some method of covering those behind the seines cost , like insurance , rent utilities fuel , mileage . One way to do that simplified is a retail profit wheel
It will make you not go broke 50% profit is not what you think
Look it up and most will be surprised . Great topic & videos always 👍
Most educational video I have seen on pricing. Thank you so much
Wow, that is WAY cheaper than I would have thought. Great breakdown of the numbers and thought process!
Quite frankly, when you have the numbers and they make sense. The customer can see this breakdown and be confident about the part and it's value. Everything you list is perfectly reasonable and if the customer wanted a second part, he can save himself the $50 bucks. That becomes clear ONLY, because you break it down so well. THAT is how it's done!!!