Business owners need to keep track of many things to keep their entrepreneurial dreams alive. Knowing how tangible and intangible costs affect your pricing and your profit margin is critical for any home services contractor.

For home service contractors, making a service call incurs many costs to the business. What if the customer decides not to have the work done? Charging a minimum service charge fee can alleviate the contractor’s financial burden. 

Once you decide to open a business, you become an entrepreneur. You also took on an incredible responsibility to ensure the business stays profitable — whether you stay as a one-person shop or hire employees. 

Many times contractors are asked to perform additional tasks during a service call, or the technician uncovers a problem that must be fixed.

Americans saw inflation rise this spring to levels not seen in 41 years, affecting food, housing and fuel prices. 

Contractors price their services for many reasons. However, most contractors don’t know their true operational costs. 

Basing your selling prices on your competitor’s prices is a bad idea. How do you know the owner is basing his prices on his company’s true operational business costs? 

I recently received an email from George, a general manager at a Florida plumbing company.

Did you ever consider how much of each consumer dollar you charge your customers actually stays in your business?