hello, from the new guy

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studiac

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Been lurking here for awhile, thought I would say hi. My story goes something like this, had a contracting business, did to much of the "they cant afford that much so I'll just charge this" or " I feel guilty charging that much when it went faster than I thought" and worked myself into the poor house. I moved away and now currently carry all the insurance, bonding and licensing in this state but.... I work for someone else as their master electrician. I work enough that trying to build up my own business on the side is next to impossible. I wished I had this site back when I was trying to get going the first time, thier is tons of info here thanks to you all.
 
Re: hello, from the new guy

I know exactly what you mean by saying you didn't want to charge people too much because I have done that myself. I just started my business and the first two jobs I am working next to nothing because the first customer is a friend of my wifes and I worked my butt off in an attic crawl space for several hours and only charged them half rate. The next job was a neighbor or theirs who I gave a reduced fee and only for a few hours worth or work that turned into many more hours, basically because she is a sweet old lady. I have vowed to not do this again the next time around and make some money.

Jeff
 
Re: hello, from the new guy

My general pay rate is as follows:

$85hr for service call work.
$65hr for normal work.
$55hr for builders who are loyal.
$45hr for friends and family.

You should always make something to at least cover your overhead. Don't put yourself in a position where you it costs you money to do the work.

Good luck
 
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