Job Pricing
As time goes by, some of you hobbyists will be doing things for your friends and accepting "donations" to your hobby fund (assuming you havn't done so already,lol). I have no idea what you guys are charging to compete with the "pro's".... but here may be some simple guide-lines to help you out and get that winning bid for your parts.
Professionally..... we work on a 6.6 hour day. By the time the worker gets in and does his morning routine of talking to his buddies,has a break in the mid-morning, another for lunch, and then another at mid-day and drags his or her backside to the timeclock... it works out to 6.6 workable hours in a full shift. Now... with that said, the business owner has to get the most production of of the worker and price accordingly to make up for labor/taxes/insurance/etc. Assuming the standard powder coater makes $15 dollars an hour, we double that for taxation and add another 10 for insurances (worker's compensation and health). This equals to $40 dollars. *MOST* bosses pad the amount by 75% to make up for dealing with paperwork and lost time,energy expense, etc therefore leaving us with a $75 dollar per hour labor rate. This is a very general figure as the higher salaries go and more technical research one warrants... the higher the fees go. So technically speaking... the labor for an average worker looks something like this
8hrs X $75 per hr = $600 dollars USD.
Mind you.... to break even the boss has to charge for at least $420.75 (6.6 workable hrs @ $75 - 15% (for profit) to make up for ultimate loss). Therefore leaving us at the mark of $52.59 per hour that the boss HAS TO make in order to do the job at cost. This is a good thing for you because you are not at this level. Your structure may look like this......
1 workable hour @ $15 dollars (under the table tax free) plus energy and materials cost ($25 dollars per hour) = $40 dollars per hour. Therefore a saving of 12.59 per hour that the "pro's" can't even come close to. When compounded by the day, it equals a $100.72 dollar loss for the day, and $503.60 dollar loss for the week.... per worker! Most small job shops have an average of 6 workers so that leaves us at $3021.60. See how much you look better now? Let's use this in a "real world" example now, shall we?
Instead of my infamous "widget"... we'll use a set of valve covers from a small block Chrysler product ( just because I don't like the groans from my widgets,lol).
Typical "over-all" work hours are broken down like this.....
15 Minutes receiving of parts
1 Hr sandblast and prep (inludes hanging and cleaning)
30 Minutes coating
1 Hr Oven time
15 Minutes wrapping and packaging.
Of course.... the more you fit in an oven,do all at once,etc... the more you gain. But that's understood.Also... the more you complete this process, the smaller the time estimates will be for you as a worker.
This totals 3 labor hours. For the typical powder coating shop, the amount may be close to $225 dollars ( I know some pro's charge less. We're using textbook logic here). For the "professional hobbyist" however... your fees are approximately $120 dollars. The goal here is this.... to cover for your time, materials, energy useage and foreseeable expenses in one billable hour,$40 is more than fair. For any of you actually past the "professional hobbyist" stage, if your pricing is much lower, you're going to lose. I assure you of this. Sit down and do the math! For the professional hobbyist... this is VERY close to where you need to be. Imagine the part in hand and "pretend" you are sandblasting it. How long did it realistically take? Now pretend to powder coat it? Add that to your time.... imaginary time from a dead-stop in the oven? Factor that in as well. Packaging, and recieving time? it all adds up. Total it all out and multiply by the $40 per hour rule. Professionals will almost invariably try to get an "oven full" of parts to bring the cost down. As well they should! Therefore bringing the process time down by maybe a half hour or so. Volume orders can also be adjusted accordingly. (some as much by 40%!). The simple point is.... in order for the "professional hobbyist" to compete, one must realistically approach the project with time in mind. If you do too many "favors", you will no doubt go broke very quickly. Take your time, get a feel for where you can cut corners (hobbyist and pro alike) and price accordingly. Hope that helps somebody out there.... Russ
|