Minimum 1 hour Rate or not?

Jamin_Mayer

Jamin_Mayer

Location
Longmont, CO
At times I want to charge a minimum of 1 of hour, if I bid on something that will take between 30-45 minutes. Then there are some customers who won't go with a full my minimum, so I'll bring it down proportionately.

If I bid on something that may take only 15 minutes to do, I may just charge half my 1 hour minimum.

Then, there are times, where I let the customer know that I need to charge $XXX.00 for a 1 hour minimum, however, I say we can fill that 1 hour by doing extra stuff (for which I point out some needs).

What is your take on charging a minimum 1 hour rate on really small jobs?

Am I shortchanging myself by not charging a one hour minimum at times?
 
This is TREE WORK not FREE WORK!

I've always wanted to say that!!!!

Not sure of what 1 hour consists of, but for us it is impossible to justify spending 1 hour on a property... When we factor the costs involved, dump time, fuel and others too numerous to list it just doesn't work for us.

We use a minimum charge of $500.00. We break that rule for previous customers who have something small... but really try to hold to that #.
 
jamin/ there has to be some sort of minimum fee.The way you are doing it is fine,However it does depend on cost.If i am charging say 90/mnhr and im running 3 guys my minimum is 270 /hr....i can do that but need to fit it in when it works logistically. I will also set up a bunch of little 30 min,1hr, 2 hr jobs that are suitable for 1 person.I will charge like 95 to 105 per hour.One person can go out and do like 800-1000 bucs...and its work a lot of people overlook.can be done with a small truck and chipper or often times no chipper.It is very sweet and highly profitable work!!
 
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This is TREE WORK not FREE WORK!

[/ QUOTE ] Nice.
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Not sure of what 1 hour consists of, but for us it is impossible to justify spending 1 hour on a property...

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I know what you're saying. And that's prolly why I'm starting this thread.

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... I will also set up a bunch of little 30 min,1hr, 2 hr jobs that are suitable for 1 person.I will charge like 95 to 105 per hour.One person can go out and do like 800-1000 bucs...and its work a lot of people overlook.can be done with a small truck and chipper or often times no chipper.It is very sweet and highly profitable work!!

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I'm glad you shared that Paul. I've been thinking of implementing that same idea here.

We have a lot of calls that come in asking for Aspen tree removals (due to Cytospora Canker killing them). They are typically 30 minute to 1 hour jobs.

The way I also see it is this; If I/we don't charge the 1hr minimum and we acquire customers other companies don't want to deal with (mainly due to a small job size), we are getting a larger customer base. And that reaps benefits with repeat business and referrals.

Sometimes giving a little away can get a large job in return.

Again, I'm not saying what I'm doing is the best, just throwing things out there.
 
Jamin I think you have to have a min. At least where I am there are to many people trying to get a lot for nothing. However if you think a specific customer may turn out to be a "client" then you may want to be a little more flexible. Also if the customer is willing to wait till you are in the area then at least it is not a trip for one small job.
 
We've gone both ways and I still do. Depends on the client and the attitude.

We used to do the "no job too small" gig until I realized that for the 4 hours of work I actually did for all those little jobs I was driving 5 hours to get to the different sites. Clearly No way I could meet my minimum daily overhead with only 4 hours billable work.

We tried the "1 hour" minimum and found folks wanting to fill that hour but we were still driving more than working.

Now we simply state a flat rate for the job (which happens to work out to be a 1.33 hour minimum right now) and definitely don't quote an hourly rate for such work.

If it is a really small job that the min charge seems outrageous, and we are likely to lose the job because of it, then we'll look around and tell the customer that we'll also throw in some other work we've identified.

But again, it all depends on the customer and my mood.

Bottom line is that if you are not meeting your daily break even total then your doing "Free Work!"
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the nice thing about our system is that many of the jobs i could never justify sending the full crew on , the "one man " crew turns a good profit.I am using a part time arbo and will book a day for him.The regular crew goes out and pulls their normal numbers and he can typically do between 900/1200 by himself . I can book a few days a month like that .Imagine if you could do that 2 to 3 days a week over the course of your season? ill take that on my bottom line...and it tends to be small hand pruning jobs for people who want things pruned right!!
 
That's awesome Paul.

Also, most of our drivetimes, here in town, can be 10 min-15 min between jobs.

And based on what I'm gathering, from you all... I think I'll keep the 1 hour minimum rate and try not to ever dip below it.
 
Jamin,

I try to keep an hour minimum rate. Although if I know we'll be in the area at some point, and to keep the new contact, I'll go below the minimum and tell them the task will get done as a fill in and it might take a little extra time to get done. Seems to work for me.
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good plan Jam!!
Site note--- you had e mailed me a while back about phc...i was sort of out of touch for a while. Please forgive me for not getting back to you!! i value my relationships on here..
 
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