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Hello everyone,
Someday in the near future I plan on having a service-based mobile business that will take place at the customer's home. My question is regarding factoring in travel costs into my price. I am on a lease with my vehicle and i dont want to run up mileage since i am already near my max...so i was thinking of only working within a 5mile radius and adding in the charge for mileage at $.20cents/mile since that is what my car dealership will charge for overage. Is this fair? My confusion is what happens when I am at one customer's house who is within the 5 mile radius, but I end up traveling 10miles to go to opposite end of the city and then still have to travel another 5 miles back home??? Would it be best to just use 10-15miles as the model and use that as a flat rate in my cost? The customer would never actually see the charge, it would just be included in the price of my service.
As you can see, nobody is answering. I suspect because this is so petty a concern for the cost. Based on the info you provided, just add a lousy buck to all your calls and not waste your time factoring this into what you are going to charge the customer.
Hello everyone, Someday in the near future I plan on having a service-based mobile business that will take place at the customer's home.
About 20 years ago I charged $50 to show up! Then I would charge an hourly rate of $55. Given milk now costs ~$3.50-$4.00/gallon. You should probably charge at least $75 on-site charge + labor rate.
Remember you're building a business. So you have to charge based on what it would cost "the business" to send out employees! Lease fee, gas, tire wear, employee rate, employer taxes, tools, materials, etc.
This is nickel-and-diming. Don't do it within a well-defined service area. People will feel as if the meter is running.
Instead, make it easy on them and charge a flat fee, whether per visit or per hour. However, if you have to drive 50 miles, then that would be understandable.
Get rid of the lease - IMO it's silly to start a mobile business with a leased car. A new business needs all the customers it can get, and the fact that someone lives 7 miles away means you're going to turn them down as a customer makes no sense to me. Wait until you can buy a car, or purchase a used one just for your work. Don't charge mileage, that seems petty and will turn people off, just deduct mileage or auto expenses on your taxes (you can choose one or the other, your accountant will be able to tell you which will work out better for you).
I recently asked a similar question for my new business.
What I came up with is that I just add it into the cost I quote. When they ask me what it will cost I like to take a look at it first so I'll drive my econo box out and take a look. I don't charge anything for that as I'm trying to get the job. When I'm calculating a quote I add 15 to 25 per day for gas to drive my truck which has all the supplies. It all depends on how far away. I'm trying to stick to within 50 miles for most jobs though for a bigger job I'd drive farther but would charge more as well for gas as a bigger job would also require more days so the gas used would really add up.
I don't add gas costs in for anything within a 10/15 mile arch but anything beyond I will. I'm a new business and doing the work myself so I'm not worried about charging driving time as I don't have an hourly employee I need to pay. I'm adding in an estimated gas charge just like adding in the cost of other supplies which I will be using. Once everything is added together, I have a total price which I give my client.
As you can see, nobody is answering. I suspect because this is so petty a concern for the cost. Based on the info you provided, just add a lousy buck to all your calls and not waste your time factoring this into what you are going to charge the customer.
Wow, rude. Actually, people did reply. But hey, thanks for giving such great advice and encouraging words to a young person who is just trying to build a foundation for a future in America's economy.
Get rid of the lease - IMO it's silly to start a mobile business with a leased car. A new business needs all the customers it can get, and the fact that someone lives 7 miles away means you're going to turn them down as a customer makes no sense to me. Wait until you can buy a car, or purchase a used one just for your work. Don't charge mileage, that seems petty and will turn people off, just deduct mileage or auto expenses on your taxes (you can choose one or the other, your accountant will be able to tell you which will work out better for you).
Ideally, getting rid of the lease is the game plan but this is my first time lease so I have to see how the cards play out with that since it's going to require me returning the car before the lease ends. That being said, I will never lease again As soon as possible, the plan is to get a vehicle that will not have any mileage restrictions. However, if that can't happen sooner than later, I wanted to begin taking a few customers for extra cash flow to build up the additional supplies I will eventually need.I have no intention of turning down customers or being petty over 1 or 2 miles..this is just a new world to me and I honestly didn't know how to handle it. I wasn't sure if people charged or didn't charge or if a flat rate was the best way to go.
I recently asked a similar question for my new business.
What I came up with is that I just add it into the cost I quote. When they ask me what it will cost I like to take a look at it first so I'll drive my econo box out and take a look. I don't charge anything for that as I'm trying to get the job. When I'm calculating a quote I add 15 to 25 per day for gas to drive my truck which has all the supplies. It all depends on how far away. I'm trying to stick to within 50 miles for most jobs though for a bigger job I'd drive farther but would charge more as well for gas as a bigger job would also require more days so the gas used would really add up.
I don't add gas costs in for anything within a 10/15 mile arch but anything beyond I will. I'm a new business and doing the work myself so I'm not worried about charging driving time as I don't have an hourly employee I need to pay. I'm adding in an estimated gas charge just like adding in the cost of other supplies which I will be using. Once everything is added together, I have a total price which I give my client.
Thanks...that was really helpful. I'm kind of in the same boat, right now I'm not so much concerned with earning an hourly buck as I am with earning revenue to put back into my business so it can grow and offer a better variety of services. It seems like alot of people suggested not to factor any cost at all or very little, but if I consider the possibility of driving up to 30 miles a day in stop-and-go traffic x 6 days a week, it seems like I should factor atleast some cost into the service otherwise at the end of the week that's money coming out of my pocket for gas an other expenses that could otherwise be going back into my business. That's just the way I'm seeing it but other people say I'm being petty..which I am not trying to be..I just want to be smart about my business and not lose out like so many people do.
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As soon as possible, the plan is to get a vehicle that will not have any mileage restrictions. However, if that can't happen sooner than later, I wanted to begin taking a few customers for extra cash flow to build up the additional supplies I will eventually need.I have no intention of turning down customers or being petty over 1 or 2 miles..this is just a new world to me and I honestly didn't know how to handle it. I wasn't sure if people charged or didn't charge or if a flat rate was the best way to go.
