Did any one increase prices for the new year, and if so how much. I raise mine $5 for me and $2 for my helper. This is to help cover fuel and travel time.

What about your repeat customers do you notify them about the increase or do you gust let them find out when they see the invoice.

With gas & insurance costs going up, also material cost pipe & wire... I have rasied my rates; service calls & Labor rates per hr. These are common business operation costs, I found on this site some " Small Shop " or One Man operations, offering a labor rate under 40.00 per hr... How they stay in business, I don't know, also offering prices at that crazy low cost, hurts the real business ...

Currently going through & updating all flat rate prices to reflect the increases on material.
Went through 2004's records to determine actual overhead costs... to make sure I started that out correctly also.
I'd highly advise everyone to find out EXACTLY what their overhead costs are....I was surprised !! Thought it would've been much lower. Guess work can cost You here.
New Years resolution was to work more toward the business side this year, and become a better Business Man.
I find lots of help here !!

Why wait until the end of the year to increase your rates or find out how much your overhead is?
I feel that this should be done at a minimum on a monthly basis. By the time the year is over it is too late to make the necessary adjustments. If you do it as you go during the year you can make the adjustments before you find out at the end of the year that you were loosing money all year long. http://pmmag.com/CDA/ArticleInformation/features/BNP__Features__Item/0,2379,5124,00.html

[This message has been edited by A-Line (edited 01-09-2005).]

I agree...it won't happen to Me again.
Being a 1 man show, I felt like My overhead would be lower than it actually is.
I guessed at an ammount, & used it.
Turns out I was off 8%...that's why I'm going to check it monthly, & modify it as needed.
Like I said, going to concentrate more on the Business side in the coming year.

A-line, you are correct about that. But for me it comes down to having time to do it. Maybe I spend too much online.

I check my overhead monthly, if not weekly...but unfortunately i can't give my boss a bill for my higher expenses...just one more reason to get the E1....are there any contractors offering health insurance for their employees? mine doesn't...when i bring up the issue...he cuts me off and says:"do you know how much that costs?"...i may be wrong..but isn't that part of overhead?...isn't it me and the customer who is paying for it???

Clydesdale,
I'm a small contractor, 2 man shop in fact. At one time I had four employees and paid 100% of the health insurance bills. I was still paying 100% while the big companies were starting to make their employees pay part of it. Then my rates got to the point that I no longer could afford to pay 100% and I had to ask the empoyee to pay part of it. I'm sure there still may be employers out there that pay 100% of the insurance but I know I no longer can. But I will say this, I could never consider myself a successful employer if I didn't do my best to provide health insurance for my employees. The problem is finding the coverage at a reasonable rate with good coverage. And you are right, health insurance is a part of overhead. If it isn't in there you have to raise your prices. So many people are afraid to raise their prices yet if they would they would find they haven't lost a single customer.
Ron

That's good to know, Ron. yeah..i am in a 2 man shop...and i understand that it is expensive to provide health insurance...but if my boss is billing me out at $70 per hour and i gross $13.50 per hour...doesn't that leave enough for my health insurance? i understand that i get paid for 40 hours(no overtime here), and he can only bill me out for let's just say 30 hours...and there are workman's comp insurance, and taxes, and probably some other stuff...but doesn't that sound like he could "afford" to provide me with some insurance? And if not what do i do...leave "just" for health insurance?

Break your leg and spend some time in the hospital. You'll wish you left "just" for health insurance. To me this is a must have.

yeah..i was being sarcastic with the "just"..I totally agree with you...i think when i quit, that I'll tell my boss that the next guy he hires is gonna want health insurance just as much as me, if not more. today he gave me a speech about how great he was as an employer, about the christmas bonus and all that...well it's funny that in the summer when i work till 7 sometimes 8 pm and still only get paid for 40 hours, how good of an employer is he then?

Time to move on. There are better contractors out there. The trick is to find them.