10% is a huge increase
the yearly union raise is in June, so every June I raise my hourly rate and I raise them for materials as it rises monthly
most of my work is bid, so the hourly rate doesn't even come up...and if it does oh well..things go up
ive never lost a customer because I raised my prices 4-5%....10% id worry about though....no one gets a 10% raise...not even union plumbers
10% is a huge increase
the yearly union raise is in June, so every June I raise my hourly rate and I raise them for materials as it rises monthly
most of my work is bid, so the hourly rate doesn't even come up...and if it does oh well..things go up
ive never lost a customer because I raised my prices 4-5%....10% id worry about though....no one gets a 10% raise...not even union plumbers
Thanks guys for all the food for thought. The fact is that I'm just way too busy. So I can keep working way more than I want for the same amount, or raise prices to the point where I'm only getting enough jobs to fill my week and get paid more in the process.
For handyman stuff telling people that I'm booked 4 weeks out just seems ridiculous. If I were a renovator or builder then a backlog that far out would be standard, or even low, but for me it seems like too much and it leaves very little room for the more high urgency things that come up.
That said, it sounds like 10% is too much of a shock so I'll just go up 5% for my best regulars and all the new customers may have to pay a little more.
This question is especially for service guys.
What do you do when you raise rates? For new customers it's easy - just tell them what your rate is. For recurring customers, though, do you have a talk with them, email them, send an announcement with an invoice, just raise it without mentioning it...? I'm talking about a 10% increase, not huge, but nothing to sneeze at either.
Thanks guys for all the food for thought. The fact is that I'm just way too busy. So I can keep working way more than I want for the same amount, or raise prices to the point where I'm only getting enough jobs to fill my week and get paid more in the process.
For handyman stuff telling people that I'm booked 4 weeks out just seems ridiculous. If I were a renovator or builder then a backlog that far out would be standard, or even low, but for me it seems like too much and it leaves very little room for the more high urgency things that come up.
That said, it sounds like 10% is too much of a shock so I'll just go up 5% for my best regulars and all the new customers may have to pay a little more.
Huggytree---I agree,,10% is a big jump---but if a fellow needs 10% more to make the business fly---that is simply a fact.
I'm guessing that this member has prices that are out dated---a lot of contractors were afraid to raise prices for the last few years----
If he is selling dollar bills for ninety cents--a think a 10% increase is really needed---in order to stay in business.