Morning guys, quick question to start off the week
What is your per hour operating cost for residential work?
How much does that differ for your commercial work like sidewalks or dumpster pad cleaning?
Running #s this week, so ill post my answers tonight or tomorrow am. Im going to do an hourly rate for every service we provide, to better understand expenses this year.
so, whats it cost you to run your unit per hour ?
On residential I shoot for a $100hr per guy/rig. Since I send at least 2 guys to every job, for me I want $200hr on up. So a $400 house wash I want them to finish it in less then 2 hrs which they almost always do. Commercial on the other hand is a little different. I may have more guys on the bigger jobs where I’m making over $500hr such as in some parking garages so commercial is a little different. The very least there I want the same as Residential which is a $100/ per guy.
Keep in mind, alot of residential you lose money traveling from job to job where a good commercial account we can be there a week. The longest Commercial job we did was last year which took about a month in the summer time and it was over $80,000.
The goal is always the net in the end and the above numbers are pretty much my gross #'s which don’t mean squat if my net sucks.
You’re heading in the right direction but, BUT, what I charge per hr has NOTHING to do with what you or anyone else needs to charge per hour to be profitable.
There are business plans that are high volume/low margin while others are low volume/high margin and others that are someplace in between. Any model can be a failure or a success depending on how they are managed.
Knowing your expenses and cash flow is the key to running any business and its surprising how many small business people have no clue what is going on in their own business.
i understand. I’m more just trying to get an idea of where others are at. Seeing as how a good percentage of us operate at roughly the same level, I just thought guys might be able to help with some other systems or ways they calculate this stuff.
i guess I’m not as concerned about what guys charge. More looking at what guys operating costs are per hour to compare them to my own
What you pay for SH is going to be different than what some guy in Florida is paying and could be different than the guy two miles away from you - their numbers don’t matter to your business.
How does knowing they are paying more or less than you, for anything, help your business?
I could give you my records for everything penny I spend and what I spend it on, how will that help your business?
I charge in a manner that pays those bills and puts money in my pocket. I know what money is going out therefore I know how much I need to have coming in. I know about how many days I will be able to work due to weather, holidays, etc…
here is the formula
your expenses per year / your expected work days based on your location = how much $$ will be spent each work day
business profit / expected work days + daily expenses (above) = how much you need to make each one of theses days you are expecting to work (wash something and get paid for it)
All your expenses are 120k per year and you have 160 work days per year - $120,000/160 = $750 per day
You need the company to have a 10k profit in order to grow - $10,000/160 = $62.50 per day
$750 + 62.50 = $812.50 per day is what is needed for you to reach your goals
I you wash 4 homes a day you will need at least $203.13 per wash
Now comes the hard part - how do you book 4 homes a day for 160 days??? If you miss one day and you are only charging $203 per wash you are screwed!
[MENTION=1]Chris[/MENTION], why don’t I get an edit button when I respond to a post?
I think your missing the point of what I’m asking.
My goal was to see if my numbers were in line with others. You seem to think that it does not matter. For me, I like to know that we are operating at roughly the same rate, overall, as companies across the country similar to our size.
My my question is not what people are paying for something, or even what they are charging.
I’m inquiring about operating cost per hour to compare it to what I’m spending per hour to operate.
I apologize if this was somehow confusing
If we both have the same size company and my per hr operating costs are $50 and yours are $50, how does that help you if you don’t know what I am spending my money on and why I spend on those things??
If both our companies have 100K in sales each year, how does that help you?
Our companies could be identical in size, work load and expenses but I my company grows every year and your does not BECAUSE my expenses (where I spend the money) are different than yours
It’s hard to compare one region to another. For example, we probably pay twice the amount for liability coverage then let’s say Alabama or Utah area’s may pay. Just to put this in perspective, my taxes on my 1/3rd of an acre property are over $13,000 yr. My 2 main guys are paid $25 & $20/hr now and nights or Sundays it goes up to an additional $5/hr each. There are also bonuses they get for some of the larger jobs we take on. When I bring on additional help I have to pay around $14hr just to start.
To even live here with a family of 4 you need to take home at least a $100,000yr to just get by without falling behind with your bills(that’s a hundred grand net not gross).
So what where really comparing is apples to oranges when it comes to certain areas. Best to know what guys in your area charge and thats easy to figure out by knowing if your landing your estimates or not and how much are some of these guys charging to beat you out.
Thats a glitch we are working out… Should be resolved in a week or so.
