Electronics > Repair
How much should I charge my customers for component level repair?
<< < (3/8) > >>
NerdCore:

--- Quote from: komet on July 11, 2013, 02:30:14 pm ---
--- Quote from: elcomtel on July 11, 2013, 01:16:36 pm ---I am a highly regarded electronics specialist and my customers will get exceptional quality of service and the highest quality standards in the country.

--- End quote ---

Then charge people accordingly. If you offer the highest quality, you must charge the highest prices. You ideal customers couldn't give a toss about the dollar amount anyway.

--- End quote ---
Although I completely agree with you. He hasn't gotten a reputation for quality, or from what it sounds any customers. The companies who don't care about price and want it done now request large companies who are established, experienced, certified, and recommended. That's a symbiotic relationship at work. The contractor has been in business, comes highly recommended, is experienced, and certified. Because of this they can charge what they want. They have no competition. The company in need of repair also wants someone established, experienced, recommended, and certified and need it done NOW! so they are willing to pay. This guy, I don't believe has any of those things so he needs to start at the bottom unfortunately. At the bottom is a dog eat dog world. Large contracts require cheap bids...period.
madires:

--- Quote from: digsys on July 11, 2013, 02:19:06 pm ---Addition: I notice that people suggest you look at what "competition" charge. IMO, DON'T go down that road - you decide what you do
and what you offer is worth, no-one else. I've seen a lot of crap from supposedly competition, over the years. Comparing unknowns is
a waste of time IMHO. You'll figure out where you fit.

--- End quote ---

Ignoring the local market isn't going to help to grow a business. If a potential customer hasn't any clue about the value of your service he'll decide based on the price. Some customers won't even notice if they get poor/bad service because they aren't engineers. They just care about the price and that the damn thing is running.
komet:

--- Quote from: NerdCore on July 11, 2013, 02:36:45 pm ---
--- Quote from: komet on July 11, 2013, 02:30:14 pm ---
--- Quote from: elcomtel on July 11, 2013, 01:16:36 pm ---I am a highly regarded electronics specialist and my customers will get exceptional quality of service and the highest quality standards in the country.

--- End quote ---

Then charge people accordingly. If you offer the highest quality, you must charge the highest prices. You ideal customers couldn't give a toss about the dollar amount anyway.

--- End quote ---
Although I completely agree with you. He hasn't gotten a reputation for quality, or from what it sounds any customers.

--- End quote ---
He did state that he is "highly regarded" in the field of electronics. I took that to mean "by people other than himself", which would suggest that potential customers already exist. Otherwise, of course you are correct that the greasy pole of reputation must be climbed, but there's no need to climb it twice unless you've fallen off it.
NerdCore:

--- Quote from: komet on July 11, 2013, 02:45:23 pm ---
--- Quote from: NerdCore on July 11, 2013, 02:36:45 pm ---
--- Quote from: komet on July 11, 2013, 02:30:14 pm ---
--- Quote from: elcomtel on July 11, 2013, 01:16:36 pm ---I am a highly regarded electronics specialist and my customers will get exceptional quality of service and the highest quality standards in the country.

--- End quote ---

Then charge people accordingly. If you offer the highest quality, you must charge the highest prices. You ideal customers couldn't give a toss about the dollar amount anyway.

--- End quote ---
Although I completely agree with you. He hasn't gotten a reputation for quality, or from what it sounds any customers.

--- End quote ---
He did state that he is "highly regarded" in the field of electronics. I took that to mean "by people other than himself", which would suggest that potential customers already exist. Otherwise, of course you are correct that the greasy pole of reputation must be climbed, but there's no need to climb it twice unless you've fallen off it.

--- End quote ---

reading his statement, I feel that his regard is in his current job. One which would be difficult to translate into your own business. Sure, you could say "The place I worked for loved what I did and I felt I should focus on that myself. But then you are killing yourself in not having real references. In his statement: "and my customers will get exceptional quality of service and the highest quality standards in the country." Will shows me he hasn't gotten any useable references or customers to use.
cthree:
If its just you doing the work, ie no employees, then the formula I use is contract rate / 500. If your salary rate is $80k/yr then you would charge $160/hr which means you need 500 billable hours a year or about 10 hours a week give or take.

Remember one thing: you can't bill for running your business but you still need to d that work. The time you get paid to do your bookkeeping, maintain and invest in tools and gear, finding new customers and collection money from existing ones you don't get paid for so you need to pass those costs and overhead on.

Bill in increments of 1 hour with a 10 minute grace (1:10 = 1:00, 1:11 = 2:00) and bill for your travel time.

If you have a large repeat customer as you do, an open work order detailing the terms with a budget like 10 hours per week and any on-call terms (double time after 6pm and weekends, triple time on holidays) is a good idea. That way you can submit your billing without having to get a sign off every time which is good for both them and you, less paperwork and they can call you in without having to supervise like if you need to go to a data enter or remote location or branch. Typically your get someone there to sign a work order when you are done on site.

Good luck but beware of being cheaper than you would be if they just hired you on a contract. You should cost much more as a free agent. Your price should be inversely proportional to your job security. The more they commit the bigger a price break you can give them. Similarly, having one big customer rather than a lot of little ones is far less secure a position to be in. If you are in a far more precarious situation than if you have a contract. They can dump you with no notice and no recourse on your part. They have to pay for the flexibility up front. You might want to propose a contract position instead for your own income security.
Navigation
Message Index
Next page
Previous page
There was an error while thanking
Thanking...

Go to full version
Powered by SMFPacks Advanced Attachments Uploader Mod