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View Full Version : How much do I ask for?



Safety Guy
05-01-2010, 04:18 PM
First,
Hello again! Dont mean to be such a fair weather forum buster, but I trust some of the input I have received from this site and figure it's a great resource.
That being said...
I have been asked to fulfill 25 employment positions in a matter of 3 days,
advertise positions, follow up replies, review and screen resumes for appropriate candidates, and send them to the bossman.

Anyway - our company charges $600.00 per day per worker - that's $15,000 a day with 25 on a site.
Crew members get 20 an hour with overtime pay...

This is a huge sale and a commission needs to come my way for this one. I just dont know how to calculate it without sounding like I haven't thought it through.

Evan
05-01-2010, 04:46 PM
I am confused... What is it you're trying to calculate and word?

vangogh
05-03-2010, 11:22 AM
I'm confused too. Do you mind asking again with a few more details about what you're trying to calculate?

Safety Guy
05-03-2010, 03:53 PM
I dont know how to calculate the percentage of this sale that I know they will give me if I ask the right way.
I dont want to go in and say I deserve $10,000 for this project and not be able to show them why. I dont want to sound likea dumb@$$ just asking for a bunch of money.
I dont want them to lowball me either, which they will....
How do I ask for $10,000 for this job? or is it too much to ask for?

vangogh
05-03-2010, 07:29 PM
Oh I think I understand. Sadly there's no good answer. Ideally you would know what maximum they're willing to pay and charge that, but you won't know that when you give them a price.

What I usually do when setting a price for my services is figure how much it will cost me in money or time and how much I want to make. I set a bottom line price and base an estimate on that. Sometimes I'll tell a client a price and they jump at it so fast that I know I could have asked for more and I want to kick myself. Other times the client who had been extremely interested in hiring me prior to hearing the price never contacts me again.

There's no absolute perfect way to set a price. What happens though is over time you get better at it. Say 3 clients in a row jump at my price. That tells me I'm estimating too low and the next client will get a higher price. Same thing the other way. Too many people walk after hearing the price and the price drops for the next person.

Do your best, but don't expect you'll get it perfect the first time out. With every job you get track your expenses and your time to better understand how much this really cost you so you can adjust for the next estimate.

Safety Guy
05-03-2010, 09:46 PM
Thank you...



I dont think I have that many fingers :p

vangogh
05-03-2010, 11:39 PM
I use my abacus. :)

Evan
05-04-2010, 01:27 PM
It depends on the industry for the percentage you should ask for up front. As for what the average profit is for your industry, that also depends and requires research on your part.

Safety Guy
05-05-2010, 03:15 PM
My calculations figure this out to be between a 10 - 15 million profit minus overhead costs.

huggytree
05-07-2010, 12:20 PM
add up all your actual costs and add 10-40% profit depending on your industry.

i add 10%-15% on new homes and 20-30% on remodels