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I think that if you get an extra man in the van you can double your turnover with very few additional outgoings except another wage.
For us three in a van isn't always workable, we work best in 2 operative teams.
That's True.
Good point Adrian.
It's also worth bearing in mind that £160 a day is around £40k a year.
Taking vehicle running costs, operating costs and tax and national insurance into consideration, there's every probability a single-person operation is taking home less than £25k.
None of the above takes account of poor weather or holidays either.
And don't forget there are the other hidden costs like advertising, phone, internet, computer, books, road tax, Income tax, accountants fees, stationery, printer ink, repair costs, downtime, and on and on and on.
The single person operation really needs to be earning in excess of £26.66 an hour (x 40 per week) to be on the safe side.
I run a one man maintenance business for the past 3 years, I dont make no were near £25 per hour and I live and work in and around the B94 area, which is quite an expensive place to live, but even the people around here are reluctant to pay anything over 15-20 per hour.
Im lucky to live with my brother so there isnt really any outgoings for me with a mortgage or rent.
But I do agree im finding it hard to make a profit on my own, im basically working to live, which isnt good to be honest.
I need to rethink the business plan. either get more work and get a 2nd pair of hands, or go down the line of priceing big jobs and moveing on to the next.
Hi Ashley.
One thing you could consider is putting your prices up very slowly.
For example, if you haven't increased your prices for the last two years, put them up by 10% now and another 10% next March.
10% might seem a lot to you, but when you're charging customers £20, it's only another £2 on top, and you find that most of them won't even flinch.
The point is that they probably won't dismiss you. Just tell them that they won't get anyone else as cheap as you, even after you have increased your prices.
If you charge all your customers an extra £2, how much extra a week does that mean to you?
Is that enough?
Our business has a £25 minimum charge for mowing up to 100 Sq.m but in most cases we charge up to £40 per 100 Sq.m.
A 'one man business' can’t just keep putting his prices up because he thinks he deserves more money. There is a finite limit to what you can earn on your own and the next step is to employ someone, then two then three and so on until you are where you want to be.
We used to have an entertaining chap on this site who would always get involved with this type of debate and his answer would have been "OK, you charge £25.00 per hour and I will employ someone on £8.00 ph, charge £15 and take your work!" Some of his opinions were off the mark, but in this respect he was bang on the nail.
Colin Hunt said:
Chris Auld said:
Surely this depends on your cost of living? One persons outgoings can be vastly different to another persons.
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