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The father in law just done a qualification and is starting up a business as a one man band. Any sparkies on here that could enlighten me on average charges.
West country location btw
Unless he's had some time served experience, then he should not be starting a business as a qualified spark. I'm hoping he's not just gone to college and gained a qualification.
Oh, and if he's got the nouce to be running his own business (as a Sparky), then he shouldn't be asking the going rate on STW via his son in law.
Sorry if that sounds harsh, but it's late and I became a sparky the proper way!
I wish him the best of luck. Its hard at the moment even if your an established sole trader.
£35 per hour is fair if hes good.
Biggest mistake tradesman make is charging for their own ineptitude. If hes a bit slow its not the clients fault. I have lost count of the number of times I have heard of tradesmen charging for say two hours when a good knowledgable person could have done it in half the time. Then wonder why they have trouble getting the money.
Charge a fair price, treat customers fairly and he will make a good living.
Specialknees makes a really valid point.
Your FIL needs to find out what the going rates are for certain jobs and not charge by the hour.
I set my own business up with a friend / former business colleague 18 months ago. We took the decision to be hands on in the early stages of the business and still do the installation work ourselves now. What would have taken us a day now takes 3 hours.
Tell customers how much the job will be before you start. We win our work based on tenders and fixed price quotations.
Fixed price is the only way to go. He'll do some jobs at the start that take him longer than expected and he'll learn quickly from it. Vice versa, some jobs will be quicker. A fixed price lets the customer relax and not worry about being ripped off, it stops clock watching and lets your fil relax and get on with the job too, plus it ultimately will allow him to make more money.
I never pay a tradesman an hourly rate - its a quick way to get fleeced as a customer.
Fixed price is the only way to go.
+1
Dad is a self employed sparky of 40+ years, wouldn't work any other way.
Did he do a short course teaching him bs7671? Usually about 5 weeks.
If so, how do they learn the practical side of the job?
Have to say, I don't understand how they can learn in 5 weeks what took me a 4 year apprenticeship to learn.