Date:         Mon, 30 Apr 2007 12:56:23 -0400
Reply-To:     Benny boy <huotb@VIDEOTRON.CA>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Benny boy <huotb@VIDEOTRON.CA>
Subject:      Re: Was: Mechanic VS customer, now: it's a passion, period!
Comments: To: Keith Hughes <keithahughes@QWEST.NET>

Mm.... the following page on my site, that you probably don't look t because
it's in my shop section and only in french is my... resume business card, my
trade mark:
http://www.benplace.com/bjp_travaux.htm

That page bring me most of my customers.

As for my labor/hr rate, i started at 25$ hr, then 35, and last 45, now it
will be 55$ next year.

Thanks foryour comment.

Ben


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Ben,

I don't think anyone has *any* problem with you posting questions here - on
any topic. You certainly contribute far more than your share to the list. As
I said before, I spent many years working as a mechanic (about the time you
were born, granted :-), and people haven't changed much since then. My point
about your rates was that when your rates are much lower than all your
competitors, a couple of bad things can happen. One, you lose work since
people (who don't already know you or one of your customers) says "his rates
are a lot lower than everyone elses, so he can't be very good", and two, you
have to assume that there will be customers that you will not be able to
please, no matter what you do, and you'll end up eating your labor just to
get rid of them. You have to get a bit of a premium on all your jobs to pay
for the occasional PITA customer. That may sound unfair to your good
customers, but it really isn't. It's just the cost of doing business. I've
been self-employed for 9 years now (as a consultant/contractor in the
pharmaceutical field) and that's just the way it goes. I'm not saying you
should gouge people, but just that you need to look at all the hidden costs
that happen in your business (like the unhappy customer you send away free)
and factor that into your rate. You'll likely still be cheaper than everyone
else. Take care,

Keith Hughes '86 Westy Tiico (Marvin)