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Debate: Do you bid by the hour or by the job? I hit 500 service calls and it changed my mind.
Ngl, I used to swear by hourly billing for everything. Felt like it covered my ass if something went sideways. But after my 500th call last month in Phoenix, I realized I was leaving money on the table for simple stuff like swapping out a breaker or fixing a loose neutral. On the flip side, I took a flat rate job for a whole house rewire and the guy had knob and tube hiding in the walls. Took me an extra 3 hours and I ate the cost. So which side do you lean on? Hourly for safety or flat rate to keep it simple?
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irisg573mo ago
Did you factor the Phoenix heat into your flat rate pricing? Because that extra 3 hours on the knob and tube job sounds like you didn't pad your bid enough for surprises. I do mostly hourly for service calls like swapping breakers or fixing neutrals, but I switch to flat rate for bigger jobs where I can estimate closer. Flat rate on something like a rewire feels risky if you're not charging enough to cover the unknown. Hourly keeps me honest and the customer knows exactly what they're paying for. That 500th call might have shown you money on the table, but I'd rather leave a little there than eat a whole afternoon for free.
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margaretshah3mo ago
Kinda feels like you're overthinking this whole 500 calls milestone thing. You had one bad flat rate job and one good hourly job, that doesn't prove much either way.
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