charge for time?

[Don]

Hi Terry,

If you only charge your hourly fee you are *out* your
depreciation/fuel/maintenance costs. But I applaud you at least charging
your hourly rates.

At 03:08 PM 5/8/2007 -0400, you wrote:
>   I think I'm with you Jim - don't have a  super-computer to check you
>math ;-). When I agree to travel outside my normal  area or to make a
>special trip within my area (other side of the county when I  don't have
>any other tunings there on that day, etc.), I don't bother with  miles, I
>charge my hourly fee for my travel time. Period.   Keeps things simple.  
>Terry Farrell    ----- Original Message -----    From:    JIMRPT at aol.com   
>To: cy at shusterpiano.com ; pianotech at ptg.org       Sent: Tuesday, May 08,
>2007 2:44 PM   Subject: Re: charge for time?   
>      In a message dated 5/8/2007 9:34:40 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
>cy at shusterpiano.com writes:   I just      find that mileage is an easy (and
>fair) concept for customers 
>to accept,      and since I'm still growing my business, I'm not at the
>point of      
>charging for my time when I travel.
>
>      I have been watching this thread and find that I can't keep from   
>commenting.       All that we have to sell to our customers is 'time'. We
>don't sell only    tuning, we sell other services as well such as
>regulation and repair, etc.    What we charge for our 'time' is what
>determines how well we do financially.    If we don't do well financially
>we will not be in business very    long..........        We should set a
>standard rate for tuning/service and stick to    it...along with the
>standard rate we should have a standard service area that    is charged the
>standard rate without regard to mileage/'time' considerations    which
>should have been taken into account when we set our rate to begin    with. 
>         Now lets say that you    charge 50 dollars as a regular rate for
>tuning/service...this out of service    area would than be billed at
>$63.50.        Since a lot of us work in urban environments we don't travel
>from    place to place without a lot of travel time and it would not be
>unusual for    this extra 30 miles to add 45 minutes to an hour of time for
>that appointment    to your total    travel time.     Using 45 minutes
>extra time and assuming you allow 1.5 hours for a    normal service call
>and you charge only your normal $50 plus mileage of $13.50    for a total
>of $63.50.........which works out to be $63.50 (2.25 hrs) or    $28.22 per
>hour.        hour X    $50.00)   or $50+$37.50 ..which is $87.50 and is in
>line with your regular    rates..........and comes out to....$87.50 (2.25
>hrs) or $38.89 hr.        Your regular rate works out to be (at $50 per 1.5
>hr call) $33.33    per hr.   So if you want to establish absolute equality
>on this out of area call    you would charge $33.33 X 2.25 hrs = $74.99    
>   So you can justify your charges of:   $28.22 per hr.   or   $33.33 per
>hr.   or   $38.89 per hr.    Which is the fairest for you, your business,
>all your customers and    your family?????         what the status of
>'your' rates would    be.        I am not saying that this is the only way
>to think about this    situation but if you don't charge for your 'time'
>you are not being fair with    yourself' or to your regular rate. If you
>don't charge for your time you are    in effect giving this customer who
>lives furthest from your regular service    area a discount and shorting
>yourself in the bargain...........       Just some thoughts on the subject.
>  Jim B (FL)
>
>
>         See what's free at AOL.com.    
> No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. 
>Version: 7.5.467 / Virus Database: 269.6.5/792 - Release Date: 5/6/2007
>9:01 PM 
Regards,
Don Rose, B.Mus., A.M.U.S., A.MUS., R.P.T.
Non calor sed umor est qui nobis incommodat

mailto:pianotuna at yahoo.com	http://us.geocities.com/drpt1948/

3004 Grant Rd. REGINA, SK, S4S 5G7
306-539-0716 or 1-888-29t-uner