Wrong question, your life is priceless. I have passed up several trees that I could not see a safe way to remove. Learn how to do a job safely and don't take a job if you can't create a safe plan.
Knowing what to charge is easy. The study of economics teaches us to charge as much as the market will bear.
Translation: charge enough to stay busy.
How far out do you want to be booked? 1 week, 2 weeks, a month? I try to stay booked for two weeks. The market doesn't care how much it costs you to do a job. In a good way they are selfish and will compare you with the competition.
My customers want to feel comfortable that they are hiring a professional at a competitive price. You figure out your pricing by how much work you have. If you charge too much, no one will hire you. Undercut everyone, while maintaining quality, and you will go out of business fast.
Growing a business is a fun challenge. Make a plan for where you want to be a year or two from now. Grow slowly. Starting off the market will not pay you top dollar. You have to build you skills, image, and reputation.
Last bit of advice. Get paid for results, not effort. Don't focus on an hourly rate, focus on how much you can get done and how much that job is worth to the customer. Then, figure out how to do it faster. As you start charging more and can't keep up with all the work, buy better tools. That is the best way to get a raise, get more done in the same amount of time.
1. Charge enough to stay busy
2. Focus on results, not effort
3. Improve your skills, image, reputation
It should go without saying that you have to do this at a profit. If you can't, you should work for someone else while you work on number 2 and 3.
