I am having a hard time believing this discussion about prices. This is business, and you put as much in the bag as the market will bear, and don’t look back. The only person you have to justify your price to is your customer and that discussion should be kept short as possible, if they will pay then justification over, get to work.
I pay more at Starbucks because the coffee tastes better, and I charge more for my work because my men are some of the most skilled craftsmen in town and my work is guaranteed. But my price is the one I make up based on my feel for the market, historical pricing, available manpower, price of copper, actual cost, and how hungry I am. Some jobs I wont touch without at least 30% profit in it, while others I will take with as little as 2%, it all depends on the current market conditions.
Why wire a Bed Bath and Beyond for $285K when you can get it for $325K How do you justify $40K? YOU DON’T HAVE TOO, they can take it or leave it and in this case they took it. If I were hungry and had to have it, my price would have been lower.
If you want to use national estimator, then wax on but the market will pay what you can sell, and you had better know your own pricing, your own market, and your own organization, which is where the real money is.
Also keep in mind a “hard bid” has risks and you don’t assume the risks for free if you want to stay in business. Sometimes you lose, sometimes you win, the trick is to win more often than you lose. Making 30% on a job helps make up for the times you lost 20%; its business and don’t even try selling that mentality, nobody will buy it they just want your work for cheap as possible, and preferably at your expense.
[This message has been edited by ITO (edited 12-05-2006).]
