How to Price a job

[smileyinfrance]

Hi I was wondering if there is an average price per square meter for tiling floors or wall tiles. I charge around £20 plus materials bit more or less depending on whether it is a flat floor or awkward bathroom wall. Could anybody tell me if that is cheap or reasonable.

Ian

 

[grumpygrouter]

Hi Ian, welcome to the forums. Your pricing, i think, really depends where abouts in the country you are. Where I am there is not as much competition so I can price slightly higher than you figure. other places stuggle for work with a rate less than yours.

If you are getting the work, don't worry about it. It is all about supply and demand. if you are booked up 6 months in advance, you would get away with charging more. If you are losing work because of your price than you may need to reconsider your pricing structure.

Grumpy

 

[Gazzer]

Grumpy has it spot on and dont forget when you are busy you will be in a better position to raise the prices a little and choose your work. Dont get too greedy though or you could fall flat on your face.
I know a few tilers who work for £18 per m2 and include adh/grout ( walls and floors) , it may seem mad but it they are happy with it then thats ok. I do feel though that by pricing too low you are selling yourself and your talents too cheap.
Your price sounds ok to me, you should be asking what they charge in your area though. Beware though that when asking some people with feed you false info.

 

[Dan]

Hi I was wondering if there is an average price per square meter for tiling floors or wall tiles. I charge around £20 plus materials bit more or less depending on whether it is a flat floor or awkward bathroom wall. Could anybody tell me if that is cheap or reasonable.

Ian

Ian,

I thought you were looking for a tiling DVD???!?!! And you charge for your tiling?!

 

[Raja]

hello ian and welcome to the forum all the best i usually look at the job and see how long it wil take as well as using metre square guide price all the best

 

[smileyinfrance]

Thanks one and all.

It is always hard trying to price for a job and its good to know that I am in the right ball park. I admit I prefer to look at a job and gauge how long I think it will take, however I get a lot of enquireys that are 2 and a half hour round trip. From my home so it is easier to give an approximation over the phone so as not to waste mine or the customers time.

As for the DVD it is for a friend of mine who lives in the south of France who is restoring his house and wants to do most of the work himself. So I thought I would get him a present.

Ian :8:

 

[sWe]

Another lengthy sWe post coming up!

I don't believe you can have linear pricing if you want to have a steady income. One price per m2 which is just right for, say, bathrooms, is probably completely off when quoting kitchens, or really large terrazos, etc.

It comes down to the following:

¤How long is the job going to take? Smaller jobs take proportionally more time than larger jobs.
¤How difficult will it be?
¤How much do you want to make in the end?
¤Can you remain competative with the derived pricing?

I have no idea what reasonable pricing in the UK is, or how your tax system works, but stay with me, ok? Here follows a simplified description of the pricing modell I would use if I worked for myself. You may need to modify it a bit for your conditions.



Tally the static expenses relating to your business an average year. These include tool purchases/repairs, trade insurance, tax and maintenance on your vechicle, etc.

Divide the sum by the number of months you work an average year.

Add what you need to make in an average month to have a reasonable standard of living, including tax.

If you plan on taking a vacation lasting, say, a month, make sure to add a months salary divided by the number of months you work an average year.

Lets say, for demonstrational purposes, that the sum you come up with is £2000.

Here's a kicker: Not all your work is spent on things you can charge for. Unpaid time includes doing paperwork, meeting customers, etc.
You need to take this into account.

Say you spend 80% of you working time on things which you can charge for.
Divide £2000 by 0,80 (80%). The result is £2500.
Divide £2500 by the number of days you work an average month (22 for a 5 day week in an average month).
The result is that you need to make £113 a day if you work five days a week, of which 80% of the time is on things which pay, to earn £2000 in a month.

You have to put your pricing in relation to this, as well as the going rates on the market. A day-rate of £130 seems to be common when reading on these forums. If this is the case where you live, and the £113/day applies to you, then all is well, and if you manage to consistently get £130 a day, then you'll end up with a £375 profit every month. That's almost 19%.

If the local day-rate is lower than the £113 you need, you need to either cut your expenses, or increase the amount of time you work on things you can charge for.



Anyways.

Lets say you got hired to do a 3m2 kitchen splashback. Lets say it takes you one working day to complete it. If you charge 130$ for it, not counting materials, that's a m2 price a little shy of £44.

For comparison, lets say you got hired to do a bathroom with a total of 25m2 tiling to be done, and you need to fix the substrate. Lets say it takes you four days to complete. If you charge £130x4 for it, not including materials, that gives you £520, and a m2 price of about £21.


Had you charged £20/m2 + materials for a bathroom (£500), as you stated in your original post, it would've been about right from the economical standpoint we calculated earlier in this post.

Had you charged £20/m2 + materials (£60) for the kitchen splashback, you'd be losing money from the economical standpoint we calculated earlier in this post.


See what I meant about linear pricing being a tad off?

I'd also add percentage for the difficulty level of the job, as you want more pay for hard jobs than you do for easy work.



Any comments?

Cheers.

Edit: Corrected some spelling and editing misstakes, added a few things.

 

[Raja]

Another lengthy sWe post coming up!

I don't believe you can have linear pricing if you want to . One price per m2 which is just right for, say, bathrooms, is probably completely off when quoting kitchens, or really large terrazos, etc.

It comes down to the following:

¤How long is the job going to take? Smaller jobs take proportionally more time than larger jobs.
¤How difficult will it be?
¤How much do you want to make in the end?
¤Can you remain competative with the derived pricing?

I have no idea what reasonable pricing in the UK is, or how your tax system works, but stay with me, ok? Here follows a simplified description of the pricing modell I would use if I worked for myself. You may need to modify it a bit for your conditions.



Tally the static expenses relating to your business an average year. These include tool purchases/repairs, trade insurance, tax and maintenance on your vechicle, etc.

Divide the sum by the number of months you work an average year.

Add what you need to make in an average month to have a reasonable standard of living, including tax.

If you plan on taking a vacation lasting, say, a month, make sure to add a months salary divided by the number of months you work an average year.

Lets say, for demonstrational purposes, that the sum you come up with is £2000.

Here's a kicker: Not all your work is spent on things you can charge for. Unpaid time includes doing paperwork, meeting customers, etc.
You need to take this into account.

Say you spend 80% of you working time on things which you can charge for.
Divide £2000 by 0,80 (80%). The result is £2500.
Divide £2500 by the number of days you work an average month (22 for a 5 day week in an average month).
The result is that you need to make £113 a day if you work five days a week, of which 80% of the time is on things which pay, to earn £2000 in a month.

You have to put your pricing in relation to this, as well as the going rates on the market. A day-rate of £130 seems to be common when reading on these forums. If this is the case where you live, and the £113/day applies to you, then all is well. If the local day-rate is lower than the £113 you need, you need to either cut your expenses, or increase the amount of time you work on things you can charge for.

Anyways.

Lets say you got hired to do a 3m2 kitchen splashback. Lets say it takes you one working day to complete it. If you charge 130$ for it, not counting materials, that's a m2 price a little shy of £44.

For comparison, lets say you got hired to do a bathroom with a total of 25m2 tiling to be done, and you need to fix the substrate. Lets say it takes you four days to complete. If you charge £130x4 for it, not including materials, that gives you £520, and a m2 price of about £21.


Had you charged £20/m2 + materials for a bathroom (£500), as you stated in your original post, it would've been about right from the economical standpoint we calculated earlier in this post.

Had you charged £20/m2 + materials (£60) for the kitchen splashback, you'd be losing money from the economical standpoint we calculated earlier in this post.


See what I meant about linear pricing being a tad off?

I'd also add percentage for the difficulty level of the job, as you want more pay for hard jobs than you do for easy work.



Any comments?

Cheers.

you should write a book :lol: very informative poster a true asset to the forum thank you

 

[sWe]

Thank you! I do my best

 

[devonmark]

Another lengthy sWe post coming up!

I don't believe you can have linear pricing if you want to have a steady income. One price per m2 which is just right for, say, bathrooms, is probably completely off when quoting kitchens, or really large terrazos, etc.

It comes down to the following:

¤How long is the job going to take? Smaller jobs take proportionally more time than larger jobs.
¤How difficult will it be?
¤How much do you want to make in the end?
¤Can you remain competative with the derived pricing?

I have no idea what reasonable pricing in the UK is, or how your tax system works, but stay with me, ok? Here follows a simplified description of the pricing modell I would use if I worked for myself. You may need to modify it a bit for your conditions.



Tally the static expenses relating to your business an average year. These include tool purchases/repairs, trade insurance, tax and maintenance on your vechicle, etc.

Divide the sum by the number of months you work an average year.

Add what you need to make in an average month to have a reasonable standard of living, including tax.

If you plan on taking a vacation lasting, say, a month, make sure to add a months salary divided by the number of months you work an average year.

Lets say, for demonstrational purposes, that the sum you come up with is £2000.

Here's a kicker: Not all your work is spent on things you can charge for. Unpaid time includes doing paperwork, meeting customers, etc.
You need to take this into account.

Say you spend 80% of you working time on things which you can charge for.
Divide £2000 by 0,80 (80%). The result is £2500.
Divide £2500 by the number of days you work an average month (22 for a 5 day week in an average month).
The result is that you need to make £113 a day if you work five days a week, of which 80% of the time is on things which pay, to earn £2000 in a month.

You have to put your pricing in relation to this, as well as the going rates on the market. A day-rate of £130 seems to be common when reading on these forums. If this is the case where you live, and the £113/day applies to you, then all is well, and if you manage to consistently get £130 a day, then you'll end up with a £375 profit every month. That's almost 19%.

If the local day-rate is lower than the £113 you need, you need to either cut your expenses, or increase the amount of time you work on things you can charge for.



Anyways.

Lets say you got hired to do a 3m2 kitchen splashback. Lets say it takes you one working day to complete it. If you charge 130$ for it, not counting materials, that's a m2 price a little shy of £44.

For comparison, lets say you got hired to do a bathroom with a total of 25m2 tiling to be done, and you need to fix the substrate. Lets say it takes you four days to complete. If you charge £130x4 for it, not including materials, that gives you £520, and a m2 price of about £21.


Had you charged £20/m2 + materials for a bathroom (£500), as you stated in your original post, it would've been about right from the economical standpoint we calculated earlier in this post.

Had you charged £20/m2 + materials (£60) for the kitchen splashback, you'd be losing money from the economical standpoint we calculated earlier in this post.


See what I meant about linear pricing being a tad off?

I'd also add percentage for the difficulty level of the job, as you want more pay for hard jobs than you do for easy work.



Any comments?

Cheers.

Edit: Corrected some spelling and editing misstakes, added a few things.

WOW........

Mark.

 

[smileyinfrance]

Thanks sWe for taking the time to write a most informative response.

 

[grumpygrouter]

Spot on sWe!

Grumpy

 

[Fekin]

Good post sWe

 

[sWe]

Also, when/if you sit down and tally all your tools, make sure to take their lifespan into account.

Say for example that you have a wet cutter which cost you £300 to buy. Let's say it can last you 3 years (you don't want to be overly optimistic; stay well within the limits of reasonability). That gives an annual cost of £100. That's a monthly cost of £8.3 if you work 12 months a year, and £9.1 if you work 11 months a year. If you make £2000 a month, the wet saw cost you less than half a percent of your monthly income!

Unless we're talking real pricey deluxe tools, like the Raimondi GS 86 wet cutter, which goes for almost £800, tools are really not that big an expense in the long run, and shouldn't be skimped on for economical reasons. Good tools tend to last longer, make working easier and more satisfying, and lets you do a better job, faster. Crap isn't cheaper, for exactly the opposite reasons.

Addition: In essence:

Though the initial cost of more expensive tools might be higher, the total cost might be about the same, or maybe even lower, than that of cheaper tools, due to longer lifespan and increased efficiency.