tech fees

[Wimblees]

In a message dated 98-03-28 19:36:05 EST, you write:

> Common sense and fairness to both the customer and your self should be
>bywords here. When one starts tuning, the job takes 3-4hrs. after several
>years of experience, 1-1 1/2hrs. the market dictates the same fee for both
>tuners. The same philosophy should hold true for other work. The customer
>should not be paying for trial and error.



Roger:

When figuring out how much the hourly rate should be, one has to know for what
the income made is used. If a part timer uses the money to suppliment an other
income, then the hourly rate and the number of hours spent should reflect
that. On the other hand, if a person uses piano tuning and repairs as a sole
means of support, then what ever income is needed to support that person needs
to be earned. 

How long it takes to do a job, is reflected in how much you charge per hour.
If it take you 2 hours to tune a piano, but you have figured out you need to
work at a rate of $50 per hour, thne you have to charge $100 for that tuning.
If you can't find any customers who are willing to pay that much, then you
have to figure out what you can charge, and work backwards. In other words, if
the "going rate", or what the customers are willing to pay, is only $60 for a
tuning, and it still takes you 2 hours, then you are making $30 per hour. You
then need to adjust your expenses to reflect that. 

There are a lot of poeple try their hand at making a living doing a particular
thing (like tuning pianos), because they think it is "neat", and they want to
be theri own boss.  The reason most of them fail is because they find they
can't make enough money at it. They are too slow to do the work, to earn the
income needed to support themselves. They have the misconception that charging
$20 or $30 per hours is enough, reasoning that when they worked in the
factory, they earned $10 or $15 per hour. They soon realize that earning $15
per hour working in a factory is not the same as charging even twice that
much, to meet the overhead. 

If someone is slow at doing a job, the money they earn must still pay for the
expenses. To do the math correctly, one needs to start with the expenses, and
then figure out how much to charge per hour. If you charge a set amount for a
job, not thinking about how long it will take, you are setting yourself up for
failure, unless you have another source of income. 

Willem Blees