On the mark-up issue it can vary, we have mark-ups on material that can range from 20% to 400% It all depends on how the material is purchased, how it is stored, and how it is delivered or staged, for an example your mark-up on rigid conduit may have to be 200% if you are unloading the delivery, and staging it to another area, don't confuse this with the labor units assigned for the conduit installation task, that is a mistake made many times, the thought being that is part of my labor units, estimating in this manner can end up setting back your schedule.
And don't confuse mark-up with profit, on the high rise and new plant construction projects, the contractors averaged 25 to 35% profit year end, notice I said year end not job end, when estimating they use the expanded mark-up's but it's nothing the customer will see, material is part of a profit center, to feed the cost of purchasing, tracking, and staging.
Also don't mix your overhead or operating expenses, with, either material, or profit accounts, they are seperate issues, but control of those accounts do reflect on your bottom line.
What you may want to do is figure your break even cost, the amount it costs you to get up in the morning, then understand the cost of staging a job with manpower and material, then after that add your desired profit, what you will need to build some assets in the business, without that profit, you just have a job. and a bad one at that.
Customers will complain about pricing, no matter what your price is, as ITO noted you may do better working with a customer that has a known budget, as he said the budget helps the money flow, as I described above they were all budget projects, and for the contractor to come out with 25 to 35% year end he has to control his costs to work within that budget.
