Charging for services

[Carl Root]

This is one of my favorite topics - in part because my appoach seems to
be somewhat different compared to most technicians that I've talked to. 
It is clear that you should be paid for your labor as well as for fixed
and variable costs that you incur, either in the service of a particular
client or to the business as a whole.  

What is not so clear is that all your time spent managing your business
needs to be covered - again either by an individual client or by the
entire clientel.  Travel time has been mentioned.  Managing this cost
can have a huge impact on your bottom line depending on how carefully
you schedule your appointments.  

Another example, the one often overlooked, is office time.  For
example:  If you tune four pianos at a church, do you charge the same
fee per piano that you do for clients who own only one piano?  I offer a
modest discount to churches because the office time spent scheduling the
day's work is less than what is required to call or send out enough
reminders to generate a full day's worth of tunings.  

When I add in record and bookkeeping and time spent on the phone
answering questions and ordering parts, I find that I want this cost of
running the business to be covered.  Most small businesses, including
some piano services businesses, find they need to hire someone or get
help from a spouse to do office work.  Even if you don't pay someone
else to do this work, you should pay yourself.

Carl