Electrician Pricing - How Much Should You Charge? Get a free business lesson every week here: / @electriciansbusinesstips #ElectriciansBusinessCourse #ElectricianLife #ArtisanElectrics
When I'm called for a job to a new customer, one of the first thing I mention is my hourly rate, trip cost and CoC cost. It puts people at ease. If it's about a consequent job then I provide a quote to help them with their budget. Of course you don't provide a quote to hang a chandelier or replace a faulty switch...
Jordan, a brilliant Vlog!! I’ve made the mistake of low pricing to get the work, especially in the early days of starting my business, but you end up running yourself into the ground for very little reward. Don’t be afraid of walking away if the customer doesn’t like your price is my advice to everyone.👍👍
As someone with some experience with sourcing contractors, you actually end up losing jobs by either being the cheapest or by lowering the quoted price. You either look lower quality or you look like you were just trying to rinse money out of the customer.
We made the same mistake in our business. I just wish we had this guidance a while back. Jordan posted some very good points that we have now implemented in our business model. The result: more customers, better customers and less dealing with ‘tyre kickers’.
Few tips: 1. There is no jobs under one hour (resetting tripped rcd = 1 hour, "call out fee"). 2. You charge off site hours as well as onsite hours (picking up materials 0.5h, travel to job site 0.5h, actual job, 2.5h, travel back 0.5h = charge for 4 hours. 3. You charge separately for using van for example 1£/€ per 1km.
Charging these rates is good for the industry. It creates a precedent and ensures that electricians are respected within the building trade. Some people don’t understand what it’s like to be an electrician. It can be highly stressful, require extensive knowledge and holds much responsibility, just as much as a doctor or a pilot. Thank you for charging £80.00 per hour.
"Yeah, but my mate says it's easy to do that little job, there's videos on RU-vid showing you how to do it. He's coming to help me do it at the weekend" How many times have you heard that? (And forget trying to explain the law, Part P, blah blah, we all know that counts for nothing.) I hear it all the time, along with people TELLING me how much cable/fittings etc are - from Screwfix, of course. The fact I would rather use a known industry standard brand than some cheap Chinese tut is beyond them. I have to say too, that I've been left having to agree that the cheap Screwfix consumer unit I poo-poo'd actually did all line up, didn't break when fitted and was perfectly fine, and really was 1/3 of the price of the Hager unit I wanted to use.
@Lister Smeg Oh, silly me, of course, everyone is well up on working out volt-drop on cable, power factor correction, earth loop impedance, safe disconnection times, etc etc, aren't they? I'm sure most people would know exactly how to use a Multi-function tester and what the readings tell them. How hard can it be, right? Hint, that test equipment doesn't give you a little tick, if you don't know what you are reading, you aren't any the wiser - even if I give you my meters for free (which, of course, I have regularly calibrated - something else to be paid for) You are mistaking doing something like running a cable from A to B - which indeed, any monkey can do - with the SKILLED part of the job, the bit you go to college to learn, and sit exams to show you do know ie. What is safe to do, and why you can or cannot "just" do these easy jobs. That's what the customer is paying for - my guarantee that they aren't going to be killed, or have their house burned down, by anything I do to their electrical installation. I might even find something terrible that is waiting to happen and prevent it. It's a guarantee I put my signature on and assume responsibility for. Sure, most jobs don't take a lot of calculations, and are easy to carry out, but you'd be surprised how many horrors lurk within work carried out by DIYers who clearly have no inkling of why we do certain things. Some will never cause a serious problem, but then there's always that ONE chance you might find yourself in the dock trying to explain how you managed to burn down that orphanage full of screaming infants...
Excellent video Jordon quite shocked at the pricing but really opens my eyes a little. I've ran my own business since 2009 and don't charge anywhere near half what you do. Really great to see the money is out there just need the right business plan and ditch all the builders I work for lol :)
Hi Jordan, Let me say from the start that I'm not an electrician. However I am very technically minded and enjoy doing many DIY activities including , and don't shoot me down in flames some electrical work. I am a qualified person and consider myself to be a competent person. I watch many and varied RU-vid channels covering a multitude of personal interests. I do subscribe to your channel and have found all your videos very professional and informative. This video impressed me considerably , good presentation, clarity of information and execution of subject matter excellent . You have obviously built up considerable experience with running your own business's. Well done and I look forward to many more excellent videos.
In the old days mark up on materials was simple - you got your 20% trade discount and you charged the client at the non trade price. There didn't feel ripped off because they couldn't get cheaper and you made a bit to cover your time picking up, returns etc . The internet has basically killed the trade discount on small items which can fit in the back of a car. You can make some on cable by buying big reals (you know you are always going to using 2.5 T&E so buy in bulk when it's cheap) and bulk packs of wagos / boxes etc then charge at a per unit price but it's the pricy one-off items which it's hard to defend. If you ask the customer to get it themselves and they get the wrong one then it also comes back to you
Being a self employed electrical contractor like you Jordan, I completely agree with you. I've been in business for almost 10 years an I also offer a high level of quality workmanship people recognize. Consequently they never argue with my pricing, paid overnight! Post Covid though I offered a little discount to everyone on my hourly rate of about 7%, just to help out. I'm quite surprised with the hourly rate in England, here in NZ I do charge up $65.00 + GST. Cheers mate
That's not the normal hourly rate in England... Average hourly rate for an electrician is around £40 an hour, some areas (guessing obviously Cambridge included) are more expensive than others. I mean fair play if you can charge £96 an hour and still get plenty of work, some areas have more competition than others.
I commend this approach to pricing. Hopefully these sparky tubers get the word about so these prices are the norm. The problem is not Jordon, it’s the ones that don’t charge their worth to get the work and cut corners to make a profit.
This is where the pricing all comes unstuck, especially in the summer when demand is down, I charge lower for a nice dust free standing job like replacing down lights ,up the price for knee damaging work like chopping in sockets, lifting boards etc, also have to consider how near the job is to the van ... blocks of flats etc!
Don't forget everyone, there's waiting clients out there who are least and last affected by recession and pandemics etc price is not an obstacle for them. It's one thing to be excellent at what you do, it's another things to be excellent at what you do and to be excellent at marketing what you do, and to stand out these days you have to nail both those areas.
Absolutely great video I’ve been in the trade for 16 years had an business on the side of being employed but I’m thinking of going by myself full time and must say I can relate and learn from your videos. Thanks
Jordan, I am really impressed with your channel and how you use it to demonstrate the standard of your work. It must be one of the best marketing strategies. I'm not surprised you are so successful in Cambridge, you deserve it. Well done.
Nearly fell over when you said your hourly/daily rate. I think it very much depends on your working area. In the midlands even half that cost would be seen as expensive. Fair play for charging that and still getting the work
Why would midlands be cheaper than anywhere else is materials fuel half price in the midlands. People who are afraid to charge are weak and shouldn't be in business.....
@@lilynugent what a daft comment. Prices vary dramatically across the UK. For example, A 3 bed semi rewire in Kent is going to cost alot more than the same property in Hull. Then there is the type of customer you are working for. If you are rewiring mrs Jones 3 bed with just an extra socket in each room then that will generally demand a lower rate than the customers who want to be at the forefront of smart tech and demand high quality equipment, knowledge and design. I'm still shocked at the cost pr hour this guy is charging but considering the factors mentioned above then maybe it's justifiable. He obviously hasn't scared away the custom.
Tip on calculating quickly just 12,50 per move, drilling wall socket 12,50, hanging a lamp, 12,50, installing extra fuse 12,50, connecting cable in distribution cabinet 12,50, point a to b 12,50, if its hanging a fan or connecting a switch, 12,50 excl material costs ofcourse try it. I think its accurate and fair, some prices are per meter and some are more expensive depending on the job
Most of you guys in the comments make me chuckle. A sparkle charges you nearly 100 quid per hour and its bang on. Your car breaks down at the garage and after vat its 45 quid an hour on average, it's like your world has ended 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Well ultimately, the so called cream work of commercial and industrial doesn’t pay aswell as domestic add the fact domestic work is far easier ( technically) !
Excellent, I’m from US and we run the business very similar. Now joining the Service Titan Network running our business from home and trough a group of licensed Electricians that share the same prices nationwide. So the competition is fare and equal for everyone.
Hi Jordan, Here in the USA our Accountants recommend that we pay the Sales Tax (VAT) when we purchase the material from the wholesaler. That amount varies. The we add our mark-up and material profit. The Shipping and Handling. Including an amount if we are going back and forth to the wholesalers. Then labor and job profit and then an amount for the Warranty. Even if the Manufacturer has a warranty, it is the Electrician that has to go back out to the jobsite, remove the defective part and return it to the Manufacturer plus postage back and forth. My minimum amount is 65% of wholesale to cover all of the above.
Well done like yourself I have never undervalued myself , once your good at what you do you should expect the rewards ..respect your work and your customers .. and you will never go far wrong.. one thing I learned as a young man was do not be a jack of all trades but a master of one .. not to say you cannot or will not pick up other bits of trades I can do plumbing as well but I am not a plumber I can fit kitchens etc but I am not a carpenter etc ... master your own trade. I learned that many years ago ..
I cant see a problem with filming while he works as long as the job gets done. If the job doesnt get done and he is charging a day rate then yeah... Thats going to be an issue for the customer and will likely piss him/her off.
Great man for sharing this it’s what all new electricians want to know. I became an Electrician at the age of 40 whilst still working as a firefighter got my City & Guilds started my own business at 43, a one man band Retired now living in Thailand now but 10 years ago I was earning £125 per day. I do the odd Electrical jobs in Thailand for £40 per day. I do not do much but friends mostly. A Thai sparky charges £40 a day but trying to find a qualified one, that is a lucky dip. I still like to watch Sparkies in the U.K. being a Electrician is a great job. Well done young man.
It's not what you do it's what you now,if you are busy the price will be higher then if you was quite,if a job is going to take 6 hours charge a day,it's not what you earn in a week it's what you earn a year .£300 a day!no wonder you drive a Tesla ,especially if you do domestic work
If a job is gonna take 6 hours charge the full day? Dont think so. 300 a day? Hes on more than that if hes doing the full day at the same site. Did you watch any part of the video?
Pricing per hour How much to charge. Hi are you pricing jobs with only one person working at that site If there is 3 of you do you charge x 3 per hour Kind regards David I’m 71 retired
Excellent video bud. I’ve Got to put my hands upto you mate, for someone who has told you their daily running cost of their own business. That’s amazing, I don’t even charge half of that and it’s a major eye opener.
Nice video. I agree with most you said. Except I charge zero markup on parts and straight hourly to get them . Less paperwork. So customers benefit from a big parts order and less so from a small one. I hate paper work
Regarding material costs, when I worked at a big company in the 1970's and 1980's a purchase order was about 500 dollars per line item just for the processing time (buyer, receiving, QA, billing, accounting, etc.), the cost of the item was in addition to that. So, material is far more than the cost at the hardware store.
16:46 Don't forget, also, the value of your professional expertise in knowing what materials to get and where to get them inexpensively and efficiently.
Can I just throw a question out there to see what the response is? Back in 2015 I was predominantly using JCC LED6 downlights. This is mainly because they came with a 7 year warranty. They weren't cheap but appeared well made. These downlight have failed miserably. I have complained to JCC and Rexel over the years. In the early days Rexel would give me a replacement to go and fit. I tried to get compensation from JCC or Rexel for my time. At first JCC were very good and gave me a £300 pay out but Rexel explained that it is only the light that's under warranty and not my time and that I should still charge the customer for my time for replacing it. My question to you all is - Would you?
I would feel very uncomfortable charging customer, especially if I'd suggested the JCC fittings. Nowadays I just don't use JCC, because of the way they wriggled out of honouring some downlight warranties a couple of years ago. Customer should have registered them online, didn't, so JCC just said "tough luck" - not cool when you've sold them on the back of their warranty period. I believe I am not alone in boycotting JCC, and that they are suffering an ongoing slump from the whole episode of that particular unreliable model (the LED6, strangely enough). Tough luck, I say!
totally understand, as I'm self employed sole trader.. you charge £80/hr only because you know customers don't want to shop around, not because you NEED to earn £600/day to live on. To me this is almost like running a cartel . Pure greed, How do you sleep at night.
But the company Jordan subbed to was charging £100 plus vat. The eye opener, don’t undervalue yourself. My old boss once said to me, “just because you can’t afford it doesn’t mean to say the customer can’t “
I actually found I could charge a high daily rate for big jobs, because the customer saw the value. For smaller jobs, say to fix a CPC/RCD fault, fixed in an hour, they expected it to be cheap.
I'm a self employed painter and decorator I don't charge day rate often as most jobs go over 2 days, most prices are templated as I do alot of 1 and 2 bed flats for a larger company , just standard magnolia walls and white ceilings , no woodwork often . As long as in a week I hit my "target " I'll find my bills are paid and I can still live a nice life with some money being put away, I'd expect to hit my target in 3 days so the other 2 days are just bonuses , not everyone agrees with pricing this way but I find working like this im not mega mega busy but I'm just flowing along week to week nice and steady
So often I see other painters in my area pricing low to beat others but in my opinion once you start doing this your automatically creating a more stressful way of working
It is always refreshing to watch your videos Jordan. Honest, candid and so very well presented. I just wish you were based closer to SA73 postcode! You would be the electrician of choice. Your work is always so tidy, fixings made good, wiring dressed in tidily and glands, grommets et al loaded in. Love it! Pricing does reflect this no doubt. We run a small business restoring vintage valve amps and speakers and customers just do not appreciate how the final invoice is made up, “Bill will repair the amp in his shed for fifty quid...” So send it to Bill then!! We have a complex system in our house and actually getting a competent electrician in is a battle! Solar PV with storage and a backup diesel generator all feature in a grid tie system. That scares most electricians away around here! An EV charge point will soon be added. I just wish there was a way for me to mail in pix so you could comment (positive and negative). 20 years in power delivery for cellular operators has taught me a lot but life is still one big learning curve. And your videos contribute greatly, not just with the practical front end work but the back end work too. Thank you.
Loving the videos mate. I'm a maintenance technician with a predominantly mechanical background. I have a level 2 2330 and hoping to get fully qualified in the next few years. Your videos are pushing me to crack on with it
A huge factor now is the legal basis for performing electrical work leading to high insurance costs and the risk of having to rectify work later on. You find that cashflow is critical in compiling and controlling stock and supplies. In Ireland anything that is installed in a building becomes the property of the buildings owner and cannot be removed after the install in the event of non-payment. This differs from wet trades where material costs are much smaller in relation to overall costs sucj as labour.
Also; expectation management is the most important part of pricing and estimating as far as I can tell. Not shock and awe but just a clear guideline of cost.
I work as stubby gas engineer for a high end kitchen company in North Yorkshire. They was grumbling at £30 per hour.. when they charge £2000 for an hours job swapping like for like extraction fan. Realy piss me off when people grumble and I know its not alot of money that I charge at all!
@@ChrisTheSparky Thing is that often Joe from the pub DOESN'T burn the house down, he does a perfectly safe though unlawful job. He may even be using RU-vid as a guide how to do the job!
when we had the 2008 downturn in the economy , many in my area (epsom surrey) were reducing their prices per hour to silly money, i would rather stay at home than give away my skills in that way. i actually increased my hourly rate from £40 to £55 pph, and never looked back, managing to keep myself , my electricians mate and my apprentice , plus another electrician in work , right up until i retired in 2017.
I figure the "cheaper for one day" idea is basically the thought that you're only travelling once, vs smaller jobs where they should cover more overhead for mileage and time. Eg if you do 1hr jobs all day, you'll probably only manage 6 or 7 jobs due to the extra travel, and you'll pay more for fuel doing it, whereas for a single all-day job you're getting a full 8 hours. So some people (rightly or wrongly) expect that some of those savings should be passed on to the customer I'm not saying I do/don't agree with that, just expanding on the idea
32 bloke here. I know it's kind of late in the game to get into this kind of trade. I did my level 3 about 2 years ago but had a really bad experience working for a guy. Kind of knocked my confidence and I never went back, wish I have it more of a chance now.
Thank you! Great, helpful information. I've got a couple of questions: 1. I wonder what would be increased percentage in London, like everything in this city, is pricier than the rest of the UK. 2. How about if you hire/contract a Mate to help you for 8 hrs? What would be the daily increase in pricing the job? Many thanks! Look forward for your reply :)
From the very start, Jordan had a plan to make a profitable business, the key word being PROFITABLE, yes some traders charge less, but i guess they are not after profits. If he charged any less, he would still have a sucessfull business, but without profits.
How much 😩😩 fair play to ya! I’ve been running my own electrical business since I was 20yrs old.... Still lose jobs if I put myself in for anymore than £200 a day 🤷🏻♂️
This was a good lecture. I think a lot of electricians fail to take their expenses into consideration when working out their charges. However most guys would never be able to charge £80:an hour. You live in a prosperous part of the country and because you are articulate and well spoken and very good at what you do, you are able to charge a premium rate to customers who have well above average incomes or are wealthy. Most people are not in the position to be able to pay £80 an hour, for an electrician to attend and you have to compare this to other services that a householder buys. I pay £30 an hour for a tutor for my children, in central London you might pay £60 for the service. If you are a woman, you can go to an upscale hairdresser ans pay £50 an hour for cut and blow dry and these places have expensive premises to pay for. I’m sure a lot of people would benefit from your business course, you obviously know what you are doing and over a 10 or 20 year career, even a few tips picked up could be well worth the money. However you seem to be using your stated charge rate, which is really at the very top end to lure people into buying it. At your rate most houses would still have 3036 boards.
Very Agree with you. Great point that you got a goal and were successful. Most important on time and good professional work hourly and schedule. I love your brilliant Vlog!! Thumb up!!! Cheer!
Does that £96 an hour cover whatever you are doing for example do you charge an EICR per hour or is that charged per circuit or anything else? Keep up the great work and I’ve found all your help great.
Wow! £600+ for a days work. That's a month's pay to a lot people after paying bills out. Shouldn't be charging more than £200 a day (10hrs) on a single job. No wonder people don't want to pay crazy fees
This explains how you managed to buy an electric van for 55K. £640 per day is huge. I expect overheads in Cambridge are high but even so no wonder you're smiling.
Must say excellent content, presented very well. All to often we are faced with a race to the bottom or other people trying to tell you what you are worth, well done for keeping standards high and charging a fair price for services rendered! I don't think everyone should charge that but at least hopefully it gets people thinking of how to get to your hourly rate methodically. I don't win every job but the ones I do win are customers for life 👍🏻.
Nice lesson. People tend to forget, that the cost of living changes depending upon where you live. So if someone "up north" says you're charging way too much, it is because their cost of living maybe a lot lower and their target market is different.
Well,i have other feelings about it.I mainly work via Workspot.(I know there is one in the UK!)If i ask such high prise for my work,then i dont get that work!Simple as that!So there must be others who even do the work cheaper than me!So there is always times that i dont get work,because others are cheaper and i am sitting home without.Because the people expect to get the work done via workspot cheaply.And Workspot has rissen there prise also,so its hard to get work.
I’ve been in business for 40yrs in the plumbing and heating business I could never get away with charging that I only do price work make more on boiler changes ime gasafe and oftec and have to renew them every 5yrs at £2,000 a piece I wonder how you can afford to run around in a Tesla
He said in other videos that he has two other vans working and theres no reason to believe he hasn't, also he will be hiring another person to solely install EV Chargers.
Basically you never got the memo that you're a business, not an employee. If you're happy with the money you're on, save the headaches and work for somebody, if you're working your ring out for 40 years and a tesla is out of reach, fix your pricing.
Solid video; thinking about going alone just now and I’d done all these sums just before finding this video! Reassured me that I might know something! I’d planned for £240-300 per day. Covers costs of £20k p/a and up to £40k per year pay before tax. EDITED - this wasn’t allowing for time off and sick pay which would take total to closer to yours.
Also there are all the off the van materials that you may use screws , rail plugs etc even if cheap individually they still add up!! How I see it Ive trained to be in a trade that is very dangerous. Why does no one look at a dentist when they get 100k + per year for pulling a tooth when I'm risking my life.
@@paulrattray8121 There is always one. Why would you need to step in with that comment. Can a risk assessment see when if an isolator switch is damaged to an extent that operating it leads to a bang? well that's happened to me and luckily I was not blinded. Ive had an old wooden back DB explode on me taking the cover off. because it was so knackered and somehow the previous electrician stuffed all the guts back in and got the lid on.
Great job Jordan. Huge lesson for me watching this video to never under value my time and my job. After this video I'm more self-confident that helps become successful. And respect for being honest.
If buying materials where the customer otherwise couldn't and at cheaper prices, it's only fair to add a markup exactly for the reasons you have mentioned.
20 percent mark up is reasonable, small things like waiting in queues, driving to and from suppliers etc etc.. so £50 for cable, I'd be happy being charged £60 ...
You might get those rates in Cambridge but if i tried that in the midlands i wouldnt have any customer's . Every area no matter how good a tradesman you are has a price ceiling , even the leafiest areas you would be pushing it if you charged out £60.00 an hour if its several days work you would need to knock off 10% off those rates to be in with a look in , on the inner cities you wouldnt get £30.00 an hour , infact a local sparks i know charges £150 a day and he's still told he's to expensive .
Agreed. I can charge commercial customers in my area whatever I feel is fair, but round here domestic customers feel robbed for charging them £25 an hour.
I know a spark in Belfast charging £80/h. Your location it's not the problem. The problem is how much value you put to yourself and how ready is to stop listening to all the nay sayers and charge your value
i charge £100 a day i been a spark for over a year now (have been a 3ph meter engineer for over 4 years) and im always getting told im ripping people of as theres sparks in my area that are doing work for peanuts, blows my mind🤯
@@shubz4699 I was making more as a subcontractor 5 years ago. Next to nothing overheads and 0 responsibilities. You need to pick up your customers better.
@@EruElectrics Its not how much you value you put on yourself its the value customers equate to the work your doing . In the Midlands too many cash in hand bandits driving prices down , had a punter other day saying only prepared to pay £80.00 for a days work. i walked away but you can gaurentee someone will do it .
I have had a look on the Net and a lot of the price you see are very similar to this vlog. I am at the moment raising my prices but imay increase them a little further after watching this. I may of been undercharging.
Great 👍 never under value yourself - recently set up my own company after being made redundant as a service engineer - so glad I had a plan B - trained to be a electrician 10 years ago and used my trade to boost my wage each month - proud to pay myself a wage from my own business 1st month in business feels great - never felt so good 😀
Great video! However, your calculation for the amount of tax seems very low: you will be taxed on any income above the threshold value for your total earnings (after legit expenses), so you'd need to calculate tax AFTER you have incorporated many of the additional costs such as paying professional accreditation fees and relevant training courses, repayment of bank loans used to buy equipment and tools etc. Other costs including health insurance, loss of earnings insurance, time off for holidays etc will need to be included. Sympathise with your OCD of course: tidying-up other peoples' work can take a lot of (unpaid) time!
You’ve missed some massive factors in your pricing including but not limited to holiday and sick pay, rework and warranty repairs, non productive time travelling between jobs etc.
@@artisanelectrics Hi, good video. Could I ask you if you charge a call out fee and if so do you mind me asking you how much? Just trying to gage different prices. Thanks
@@grahamlush7140 As Jordan I'm sure would elaborate on in his course, you should never base your pricing on what your competitors charge. If you do, you'll just become 'another' electrician who's competing on price. You'll only attract 'price shopper' customers, the ones who only choose based on price (not the customers you want) Start with the formula shown in this video and have confidence in the value you place on your workmanship and professionalism. The customers who you lose because your too expensive aren't the ones you want anyway and you'll hopefully be left with the 'best, no hassle' customers.
@@MrWeddingPhotography Your so right, I couldn’t agree more. I’m just trying to work out if there is much of a difference between Irish and UK prices and the standard of work for these prices.
10:50 about "reassuringly expensive" -- One thing I look for, actually, is that the tradesman is charging enough that he can afford to amortize the risk of things going wrong -- that is, if he damages something and has to take a loss fixing it at his own expense, he can do so. Computer repair is like this. I can do my own computer repairs, but often, I'd rather pay somebody, because there's a small chance of ruining a $1000 motherboard when doing a $100 job. A professional can spread this risk over many jobs. If I do it myself and have bad luck, I'm out $1000 -- there is no risk management.
Liked your vlog. What about building in you holidays when you calculate your hourly rate. You build up your overhead annual rate then divide by 48 weeks not 52 weeks unless you don’t take any !! Keep up the great show.
So for example if you was doing a re-wire would you still do your price as in Materials and hourly rate? Or would you do it by per point? Thanks P.s im going to sign up for your course!! Just started my own business and need to push it to the next step
I calculate it by how arsed I am to do the job , how difficult it may be , Travel , materials and if the customer is mental. If all the above a 2 bed semi rewire will be in the region on 10k if they have it then great if not Owell on to the next one
