Pricing a Job

The following is more of a philosophy on pricing rather than a “best way solution”. It may not be the way you feel most comfortable working but it works well for many industries and shouldn’t fail you.
(i) Unless you are the worst window cleaner in your area you don’t want to be the cheapest. Yes cheap wins jobs but you are not in business to win jobs you need PROFIT…

(ii) Work out what your costs are firstly and include everything!

What do you pay out per month on everything from water to labour to van depreciation etc.

Now add the wages or drawings you need and divide all that by 22 working days (if applicable) That’s your breakeven day rate.(WITHOUT PROFIT that is just what is costs you each day)

Now what profit do you feel is necessary to give, security, growth and above all value to you business. Add this daily amount to the break even and now we have a basic starting point.

Treat jobs in one of two ways half day (no less) and full day.

You have the full day charge already as long as you don’t need any extra equipment etc. just add it on plus 20% .
The half-day is 60% of the full day charge as the more jobs you have the more delays and problems etc.

(iii) You must sell the value of how you work to the prospect not the price i.e:
(iv) Safety-(no ladders)
(v) Insurance protection
(vi) Training of your staff
(vii) Quality of your equipment and how well it is maintained
(viii) The cost of water
(ix) Your paper work system
(x) You can make this job sound very professional because it is just that if done properly.

(iv) You will always benefit from having a top of the range service that is head and shoulders above the norm.
Think this out and spec it then charge a very high fee, as much as 3-4 times your usual rate. Not many people will go for this but some will you only need 1-2 % of clients to take this up to give you a huge increase in bottom line profits.

Notes:

  • Never quote over the phone always inspect the site.
  • Always ask your good clients for written testimonials that you can show to prospective clients to help you win business.
  • Include travel time in the costings and petrol where appropriate.
  • Where possible try to get a written agreement signed by the customer for your protection.
  • Give customers a discount if you can sign them up to a regular yearly contract. These keep your competitors out for at least a year and guarantee you a years worth of business from that client.

 

Brodex Profit Building Tip - Money Down the Drain- Return to sewer

If you use a pure water cleaning system of any type I bet you don’t know that you're due and have a right to a reduction in your water bill and even in most cases a refund!!!

The water authority charge you approximately £1.30 for every 1000litres that enter your property BUT they also charge you £1.00 for the same amount going down the drain.

So you pay twice for the same water because they assume you have sent the water down the drains on way or another. NOT TRUE if you use a pure water-cleaning machine to clean windows?

If you contact the water board and tell them, via a form, that you take away 1000 litres of water a day they will reduce all your future billing and also give you a rebate for up to 5 years in some cases for the water you have cleaned with.

So: You pay £300-£400 less per year for just one machine. Plus what ever your rebate will be.

 

The Biggest Problem experienced by the Water fed pole Operator

This only applies to owners of the reverses osmosis machine, So DI owners read no further as you have avoided this issue.

The RO membranes are expensive, as much as £600 each from one or two suppliers, generally you should pay about £220 for a quality 40” membrane.

Unfortunately you have to keep replacing them to maintain good water quality. You will be given a plethora of excuses or reasons by suppliers why they are failing. Production rates decrease, quality decreases and eventually resin costs spiral out of control.

Why? A membrane is just a filter and you will never get a faulty one. It just blocks up with the minerals it’s designed to extract from the water. Largely calcium salts which solidify under these conditions and form a scale. This blocks the pores in the membrane and causes your issues-Simple as that.

Flushing helps, softer water delays this but eventually this is what happens

If you want to save £100,s and keep each membrane working for 3-7 years then copy what industry does when Roing water. They artificially soften the water before it enters the membrane using a water softener.

There are machines on the market that claim to contain a water softening stage. They do have a softening facility but it is largely useless because of its design and capacity. The only correct way is to buy a special water softener that is designed and built by softening experts and fit it to service your machine.

The softener normally consists of a valve/controller on top of a vertical resin vessel and a salt container. This removes the calcium salts and replaces them with sodium salts. Sodium salts do not scale and don’t block up your membranes.

Investing in an integral water softener can make your membranes last years Guaranteed.
Ps You can expect to buy a good softener for a 1000litre machine for about £750 and it will last 10 years and you can use it to feed your home as well.