Charging a premium is a requirement for some requests e.g. same day callout, out of hours or high risk etc.
You need to cover your time and the chance of any additional costs occurring to yourself.
If you go to do a one hour job then, depending on what time off day it is etc you are potentialy missing out on earning more elswhere. It costs you fuel, travel time to and back from job as well as the time you spent there. In addition to any hourly rate etc you are charging you need to make extra on top of that again as running a business is about making profit ontop of your costs, this means on top of your hourly wage too. If you aim to earn £20 per hour then this is a cost too Im afraid. You need to make extra on top of this to truley make your business viable and more than just getting by.
When doing any handy man work I need to charge £40 for the first hour to cover all the above , even it its a 5 min job as I have realised it costs me fuel, tools and time before and after the job. I get some customers who think my prices are too expensive but other are more than happy to pay. There is always someone willing to do the work cheaper and if customers are not happy with my price then they can get someone else to do the work. No hard feeling there. I value my time, skill and knowledge.
As a business none of us should ever feel obliged to give a
standard one or two hours earnings (£10 per hour etc) as Its simply not worth it. You wont get far doing so as this is an employee rate not a business rate.
I understand some people may be happy just earning a wage but I try to operate as a business so this is how I have to look at things.
Charge what you must. Nobody knows your business better than you and if a customer feels you are charging too much then they will go elsewhere.
You get chancers charging at either end of the scale.