1st Commercial Job

Mom works at LaQuinta a town over and got me in to estimate 300ft of fence and the pool deck which is maybe a full size 4 car driveway plus another 1/3 or so if that.
The fence really isn’t horrible has some light algae in a few spots and mostly just weathered…
Pretty excited to knock it out and hopefully get him as a permanent client !
I quoted $910 for the job , I figure should be able to finish most of it in a day if not the whole fence but we shall see !! Quoting is still a process for sure for me.
I ordered some oxalic acid to use depending how it comes with my wash !

Be sure to set proper expectations on the pool probably needing a good vacuuming,it’s nigh on impossible to not get some crap into the pool cleaning the pool deck.

I’d at least ask them for the OK to use their equipment to run it when you’re done.

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Yeah he said tomorrow we will finalize everything I definitely planned on telling him about the pool I’ve been noting things I think I need to bring up to him just so it’s all explained and hopefully no surprises for him !

Hopefully it’s not a box fence and just flat, either way $900 for all that is really darn cheap.

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Yeah it probably is idk it’s literally my 3rd job how would you have priced it out? :thinking: per ft of the fence ? It’s a basic wood fence nothing fancy

That was going to be my initial reponse, but I know he’s in FL…so anything above $99 is an improvement over a lot of those guys :rofl:

I told myself I would shoot for $100 hour range and so far all my jobs that’s seen accomplished I will shoot for 150 maybe then

I’d price it per the quantity & style, sure. But ultimately I always tell my sales team IDC what the quantities or the work are. If it’s a full day, it needs to be $xxxx (a number that may vary based on the season and workloads, but likely would be at least 2x your #). That revenue per day # has to be your number, and you need to know what your break-even is, and be vigilant about protecting that. Your price is always a funtion of your costs (but most fail to include overhead costs, the value of already bought equipment, etc.).

The question is, where did you get that #?

Yeah that’s what I need to factor more into my pricing is the additional overhead costs. I try to include chemical use gas use but cost of equipment and I’m sure a handful of other factors I’m forgetting. I got a ridiculous more to cram in my head finance wise on this stuff I’ve found. That part is all new to me and is going to probably be my most difficult task :confused:

You’re doing 300’ of fence on both sides and a large pool deck for $900?

1 side and it’s not that big honestly it looks about 30 minutes with the SC maybe 45 lol at most

Yeah, you (like most, don’t feel bad) are only thinking about the variable costs (those that fluctuate with & are directly tied to your job).

You need to figure everything you have to pay (ie.):

  • insurance
  • your PW/SC/12V system, whatever you’ve got
  • rent
  • your clothes that need replacing from time-to-time
  • some cost factor for rectifying the occassional damages
  • CC fees
  • misc small tools (tips, hoses, a new wrench, etc.), ladder(s)
  • PPE
  • ads/marketing/signs
  • CRM
  • the accountant (and a little for the occassional lawyer)
  • business license

Some of these may not apply, and that isn’t to say you may not count tools/equip. because you have them already. You literally may not have rent, but you do have equipment cost no matter what…

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Yeah I think tomorrow will be a day of lists and what not ! Day off from day job and supposed to rain no better time to sketch all of this down and formulate a better plan for myself. I should have honestly formulated a business plan so to speak and all of that before but as you have seen it’s been a wing it situation.
One day I said yep gonna start a business haha 0 experience but it’s slowly coming along.
Thanks for the advice and input as always !!

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We all start somewhere…for me it was with an accounting & finance degree, but I still have to think through using the proportioner…lol. That’s what makes groups/forums so powerful.

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0h hah you solid on that end haha!! Yeah I’m reading now on overhead calculations and what not now for a quick intro into tomorrow’s course so to speak.
I’m using square and also have zoho books which when I first downloaded I was looking at it like huh ??.. but yeah I’m enjoying these mistakes and mishaps :slight_smile:

You got a pic. Everyone just guessing here

Yet another mistake , started pouring as I was measuring fence by the time I got done with that I was ready get out the cold Rain… :confused:

It’s Florida…you didn’t have 3 minutes to wait for it to stop? :rofl:

Lol it rained the rest of day increasingly harder :sweat_smile: and was a High of 41 that day which to us down here might as well be alaska :joy::joy: