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PLUMBING CONNECTION
SPRING 2015 21
plumbing, your business will fail. You need to think of how
you will run your business, maintain your cash flow and
collect money.”
The object of providing a quote is to win the work,
otherwise, why do it? So with that in mind, how do you win
the work over the next guy who walks in?
“You don’t always win the work on price, so you have to sell
your business and knowledge to your client,” Robert says.
A big part of doing that successfully comes down to how
well organised you are with your estimating as it will reflect
on your business and character as a whole.
“It is important, when estimating, to understand that a big
job is just made up of little tasks that need to be completed.
If you know the time it takes to do the
little tasks, you can add them all up
and work out the cost of the total job.
By doing so and making note of all
the little jobs, you will also benefit by
having a check list of tasks that can
be ticked off as you go along.”
“Sure there’s a bit of wasted time
and you need to factor in set up times
and breaks etc. You also need to
consider whether it will be one person
doing the job or multiple. Work out
how much of your day you are actually
going to contribute to those small
tasks. As a general rule of thumb, a lot
of experienced people suggest there
are 6.7 hours actually dedicated to
tasks. If you do service work you might
only do four hours of work so you need to charge a service
fee to make up for the remaining four hours.”
“If you know what sort of issues you are likely to expect,
you are pricing against guys who don’t know what you know
so thus you’ll never get the job. You can foresee hurdles and
the other guy gets the job because he doesn’t… but in the
end he ends up charging more for all the add-ons.”
Like most jobs or projects these days, software exists
to make the process of estimating a lot simpler. As Robert
explains though, you only get out of it what you put in.
“Software is good. And like anything, you need to spend
the time to get to know how to use it which takes time. Once
it has been set up though, it’s extremely valuable. Like any
technology you buy these days, estimating software is an
expensive purchase if you don’t use it.”
Software provides you with the ability to divide every job
into smaller, individual blocks. By doing so and itemising all
of the labour and materials required for each job, it becomes
more of an educated estimate rather than a rough guess. To
add to this, software regularly updates to accommodate for
pricing changes from merchants.
“If I’m installing a toilet in a house, I know the process
takes around three hours. The parts I need very rarely
change but the cost of them does. The cost of me to install it
only changes depending on the price of the parts that I use,”
Robert says.
“If I want an accurate rate to install PVC pipe and fix it
to concrete, I break my cost down to a metre. I know that
every six metres I have a join and some clips. If I work out
what I need for six metres and divide it by six so each metre
has one sixth of a join and a clip I’ve worked out one sixth
of what I need for a metre. I then just multiply it out by the
length of pipe I need to install.
“I can even include drill bits in there. Let’s say I can drill 50
holes with a drill bit. I know I need half a hole per metre so
I’ll get 100th of a hole with each drill
bit. It sounds pedantic but it all adds
up and helps to be highly accurate.
I can cost out each screw too. I only
have to do it once and because the
prices keep changing and updating via
the software, I know exactly what to
charge for big jobs. If I charge at $10
per metre and the next guy comes in
and guesses it at $20, I’ve already won
the job.”
By being pedantic and getting it
right the first time, the price that
you’re quoting will be accurate, which
paves the way for accurate quotes
for similar jobs in the future. It also
minimises the possibility of having to
add thousands of dollars to the cost
of the job after it has been completed. Customers never like
to incur extra costs at the end of jobs and admitting that
you had forgotten certain inclusions is never a comfortable
feeling either.
“When you are estimating, you have to stop thinking like a
tradesman and start thinking like an estimator or business
owner,” Robert says.
“Get it right the first time and then you’re laughing.”
ROBERT’S TOP ESTIMATING TIPS
∫
You have to make quiet time to make estimates
∫
Have a good system so you’re not wasting your time
∫
Only accept jobs that you are prepared to follow through and give
a quote for
∫
Do the quote as quickly as possible rather than wait until the last
minute
∫
Know your costs and what the job is going to cost you
∫
Clearly outline, in words, what you are including and excluding so
everyone is on the same page
∫
Understand how long a job takes to do by breaking it up into
smaller steps or task. Don’t look at it globally. I’ve never met
an employee who can do a job in the time they reckon they can
actually do it.
ONCE YOU BECOME A
SUB-CONTRACTOR,
YOU ARE RUNNING
YOUR OWN BUSINESS.
YOU’RE A BUSINESS
OWNER, NOT JUST A
PLUMBER.