greerco
Well-Known Member
Hi I am the owner and the only mechanic of a heavy equipment and truck repair business. I offer mobile service and I have a shop I work out of. First and foremost im a mechanic, some how this business I created is doing pretty good after 4 years of some pretty hard knocks. I have some questions and thought this place might be a good spot of answers
1: When u do a mobile call what is a good rate to charge and do you charge per hour or a rate from the minute you leave your shop until you get back to the shop or ?? for some reason i always feel after a call like i didn't charge enough....
2: I get a lot of odd jobs that keeps me on the phone and internet doing research and trying to find odd parts and info. What do you charge for that time spent? It can take a day out of the week at times
3. Im finding it hard to schedule jobs. rarely it seems to go as planned. I tend to get a big engine job in the middle of a bunch of small jobs (on the road) and its a lot of back and fourth (new clients call me, i go because i want the new business but the older clients are waiting, many conflicts like this )...Gotta do the little jobs to keep the cash flow and then at the same time do a big job for a chunk of cash....but theres only one of me. Ive thought about hiring a guy to help but it always goes to **** because the quality of work i can afford to pay for is not the best. I have no real debt but my over head is big for having a shop and mobile services... (a lot of equipment and insurances and rent to pay)
4. On the mobile side of the business people often laugh at me for the set up i run around in. I have a hard time with the thought of costs involved in running around in big truck all the time, its not cheap. If you go out to do a 3 hour call and you need to travel for 100kms each way to get to the job its going to cost enough in fuel to drive there and use a screw driver and a wrench. Also its physically a lot to drag around the city. But more often then not, recently ive needed a crane or a compressor to help out, ive made do without but....This being said i am set up with a boom truck and larger tool trailer, i just dont need it very often and the cost to keep it parked are enough to question it.
5: This may be a odd thing to say after all of this, but at times i feel like i wanna just get a job and quit all this. But then i think, what else am i going to do? I could go pull wrenches for someone else but when i was doing that before i was worked to the bone and stressed as all hell. Knowing my boss was making rich off me was a hard thing to swallow when the finical reward wasn't there. Call me confused...i dont know..
Ive got many ideas and directions id like to take my business but other than the physical side of doing it, i don't know how to get to where i want it to go.
Thoughts?
Thanks
1: When u do a mobile call what is a good rate to charge and do you charge per hour or a rate from the minute you leave your shop until you get back to the shop or ?? for some reason i always feel after a call like i didn't charge enough....
2: I get a lot of odd jobs that keeps me on the phone and internet doing research and trying to find odd parts and info. What do you charge for that time spent? It can take a day out of the week at times
3. Im finding it hard to schedule jobs. rarely it seems to go as planned. I tend to get a big engine job in the middle of a bunch of small jobs (on the road) and its a lot of back and fourth (new clients call me, i go because i want the new business but the older clients are waiting, many conflicts like this )...Gotta do the little jobs to keep the cash flow and then at the same time do a big job for a chunk of cash....but theres only one of me. Ive thought about hiring a guy to help but it always goes to **** because the quality of work i can afford to pay for is not the best. I have no real debt but my over head is big for having a shop and mobile services... (a lot of equipment and insurances and rent to pay)
4. On the mobile side of the business people often laugh at me for the set up i run around in. I have a hard time with the thought of costs involved in running around in big truck all the time, its not cheap. If you go out to do a 3 hour call and you need to travel for 100kms each way to get to the job its going to cost enough in fuel to drive there and use a screw driver and a wrench. Also its physically a lot to drag around the city. But more often then not, recently ive needed a crane or a compressor to help out, ive made do without but....This being said i am set up with a boom truck and larger tool trailer, i just dont need it very often and the cost to keep it parked are enough to question it.
5: This may be a odd thing to say after all of this, but at times i feel like i wanna just get a job and quit all this. But then i think, what else am i going to do? I could go pull wrenches for someone else but when i was doing that before i was worked to the bone and stressed as all hell. Knowing my boss was making rich off me was a hard thing to swallow when the finical reward wasn't there. Call me confused...i dont know..
Ive got many ideas and directions id like to take my business but other than the physical side of doing it, i don't know how to get to where i want it to go.
Thoughts?
Thanks