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I am a lucky boy, 90% is within 2 miles then anything else within 10
I even go home for lunch most days.
50% of my work is within 5 miles.
20% is 5-15 miles away.
30% is 15-50 miles away.
So when we talk about what it is an appropriate charge, do you take into account the cost of travel, which must vary.
For us, even though our turnover has improved, and we have less clients (less wasted time between jobs), the increase in fuel costs and our high mileage, means we have to increase our charge just to standstill.
50% of my work is within walking distance (less than 1/2 mile). 30% is within 3 miles and the rest within 5 miles. I am very lucky i suppose. There is so much work local to me i dont even have to consider any further than 5 miles away. Most have enough room to park my van and trailer ( i like to be able to see them when i am working) and i have never had to pay any parking charges or congestion charges. I am hardly ever stuck in traffic so fuel useage is kept to a minimum. My work van does'nt do more than 5K miles a year.
Very interesting topic and something I've covered before - The hidden cost of business travel.
I've created some examples below (based on my previous location of Bordon in the UK) using Google maps.
Bordon to:
*Guildford - 18.6 miles and 37 minutes at a cost of £4.66
*Farnham - 8.8 miles and 23 minutes at a cost of £2.37
*Headley - 2.6 miles and 9 minutes at a cost of £0.75
All of the above are to be x2 to allow for the return journey.
If you travelled to:
*Guildford five days a week for 48 weeks of the year you would travel 8,928 miles spend 296 hours (7.4 working weeks) in your vehicle and spend £2,236.80 on fuel
*Farnham five days a week for 48 weeks of the year you would travel 4,224 miles spend 184 hours (4.6 working weeks) in your vehicle and spend £1,137.60 on fuel
*Headley five days a week for 48 weeks of the year you would travel 1,248 miles spend 72 hours (1.8 working weeks) in your vehicle and spend £360.00 on fuel
The value of the work you undertake should, ideally, not differ in price regardless of its geographic location.
Now add servicing costs, tyre and general wear and tear, you can quickly see how it's in your best interests to market your company as close to your base as possible.
The cost of travel to Guildford is over 600% higher than travelling to Headley and also, if I take the time I'd saved travelling to the closer location I could either have more time for paperwork or recreation or earn and extra £7,400 a year based on £25.00 per hour.
This why I introduced minimum charges.
We found when we were based In York, surrounded by houses & gardens some work was local but some was 50 miles away, so we have always had to play a balancing act.
The stuff that was local, was 1-2 hours work and further away typically 4-8 hours.
Certain travel time should be charged at 45p/mile PLUS your hourly rate (plus the rate for staff in the passenger seat). Travelling needs to be factored into your overall work costs, ideally spread evenly amongst every job.
We are fortunate in that respect. We've only got 5% of work which is over 5 miles (and that is only 6/7 miles).
75% is within 2/3 miles. Rest between 3 and 5 miles.
We are lucky enough to live in a rural location yet within a mile/mile and a half of lots of properties some of which are pretty affluent areas!
We did actually go further out than this till this year, we had one job in Sutton Coldfield which by the time you got there it just wasn't worth doing!
We will work anywhere in the country as long as it pays to do so.
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