I spend 80 hours a week trying to get 35 to 40 hours of billable labor time. Estimates and bids take up most of this extra time.
It's next to impossible to bid residential renovation work, but that's what they want. Little do they realize that a cost-plus contract would save them money, because an estimate or bid would have to include all possible worst-case scenarios.
I end up being 150% or more on some of my estimates, and we won't talk about similar bidded jobs. So lately, I've taken my figures and doubled them, and I give people sticker shock or loose the bid. If I had enough work going on, I'd stick with cost-plus contracts.
Seems in business that when you need a certain knowledge the most, is just when you haven't received it yet...
