This Old Trap House: Wonk Saggin Edition

[ndv]

On 5/8/2023 at 1:02 PM, mr.yuck said:

 

 

I agree with this guys math, however, he's not finished.  I would add all that up and whatever $/hr you come up with.  Multiply it by 2.8-3.5 times and that's what you really need to be at per hr and that will also tell you what your min charge should be.  Then you can adjust your charge from there if you need to get competitive or have nothing going on and you know it's gonna be a quick job like quick as in 2.5 hours or less to complete. 

[LUGR]

4 hours ago, mr.yuck said:

I guess I'm gonna redirect my thread to talk about my work day and the supporting characters I meet throughout the week. 

 

So, today I was sent back into some trappy hood spot. The kind of place where almost all of the old falling in houses have been cleared and replaced with new construction and everything is new but the neighborhood still gives "oh yeah this is definitely still the hood" vibes.

 

I pull into the drive way and hop out ready to put in work. I get the key out of the lock box and start to head into the house when I hear clear as day from across the street. "Hey young blood. Hey young man, young man." The voice sounds so familiar. I turn around and see this old black gentleman making his way across the street. He says "Hey. I talked to you last week about needing an electrician." This was my first day on this job so I yelled back "Wasn't me man. This is my first day out here. It was probably the other white guy that looks just like me." We both laughed and I ended up hooking him up with an electrician. 

 

The conversation shifted to the people that used to live in the house before this insurance catastrophe happened. He said "I hope these dirty nasty mothafuckas don't come back once you fix it. I then asked "oh, were they renters?" Now I'm not sure what Mr. Freeman heard me say, but with out missing a beat he looked me right in my eyes and said "Yeah, they was dirty blacks!"

 

I suddenly realized where I recognized his voice from.

 

 

No bullshit, my man had the one big eye and the one little eye and everything. 

 

I had some quick course correction to do cuz I'm pretty sure this old man heard me ask if they were "Ns" and just kept it moving. "Oh, sir, I asked if they were RENTERS?" He looked back at me and said "Ohhhh.. yeah, they renters."

 

Lol. My man invited me to a big ass cook out he has for the 4th of July his wife's birthday and a bunch of shit I can't remember all wrapped into one celebration. People are cool as fuck even if they are self loathing.

Dude, you have to go to that party.

[mr.yuck]

12 minutes ago, LUGR said:

Dude, you have to go to that party.

 

I'll see him again tomorrow. He's outside all day shining up his whips and being in the thick of it with everyone that comes by. I'll try and get some video of him in action too. I heard fish fry come out of his mouth and I'm down af.

[mr.yuck]

58 minutes ago, ndv said:

 

I agree with this guys math, however, he's not finished.  I would add all that up and whatever $/hr you come up with.  Multiply it by 2.8-3.5 times and that's what you really need to be at per hr and that will also tell you what your min charge should be.  Then you can adjust your charge from there if you need to get competitive or have nothing going on and you know it's gonna be a quick job like quick as in 2.5 hours or less to complete. 

 

 

I agree with this statement. I had to explain to a project manager the other day that it costs me $100 just to put my key in the ignition and turn my van on in the morning. He was like "damn, that's some expensive gas." Yeah and insurance and monthly payment and maintenance. I like doing business with other businesses. When I tell them shit like $125 per man hour, they don't even blink because they know what it is. Home owners on the other hand, I never give an hourly rate. I just estimate how long it will take and as long as it washes out to around $75 per man hour, I'm good with that, but I do push to hit 100-125.

[One Man Banned]

[ndv]

7 minutes ago, mr.yuck said:

 

 

I agree with this statement. I had to explain to a project manager the other day that it costs me $100 just to put my key in the ignition and turn my van on in the morning. He was like "damn, that's some expensive gas." Yeah and insurance and monthly payment and maintenance. I like doing business with other businesses. When I tell them shit like $125 per man hour, they don't even blink because they know what it is. Home owners on the other hand, I never give an hourly rate. I just estimate how long it will take and as long as it washes out to around $75 per man hour, I'm good with that, but I do push to hit 100-125.

 

I completely agree with your approach as practice this in my business.  You can't be too cheap in B2B or the customer may questions your quality or in your case craftsmanship.  The homeowners, or in my case, the consumer (personalization jobs), I can't charge them my B2B market value.  I mean don't get me wrong, depending on the job and customer I will, but I normally do not want to deal with spinning my wheels so I hit'em up win my min charge.  They usually get sticker shocked and hang up.  Which is something I learned how to talk to them to tell if they will hang up or not, then I took the min charge at them and leave it at that.   

 

In my line of work I kinda joke about it with myself but I also implement it as well to stay profitable.  The joke is, "if you can find it on etsy, I don't do it."  The thing is I am not going to compete with the milli9ns of lowest prices on there because someone's wife wants to pay an internet  bill for the month.  

 

I guess in your case you would be compelling with a dude on Craigslist having a TV for 50 bucks.   True story, I have a buddy who owns a AV company, he would get calls from home owners calling him comparing Craigslist prices.  They would get the... click!  Dude would hang the phone up if they weren't spitten some serious AV questions that he knew your 50 dollar hang and bang guy would screw up due to lack of experience and knowledge.

 

Come to think of it,  I just thought of a sales pitch for home owners and these lowballin Craigslist guys.  Next time a customer asks if you can meet this low ball price, just explain to them you cannot in the most professional way buy also including the low ball price may be someone using the price as bait to get you (the home owner) to let them do the job as they are casing your place for a robbery later.  

 

I mean it sounds plausible right?  

 

But seriously though, figure out your min in any profession and use it to your advantage as a buffer for good and bad business, profit or loss.  It really helped me a lot.  But mins are based of the market and inflation so you will have to adjust a few years or so as you grow.  I am at 125 but since covid and going in to 2022 I am thinking about raising it, I just haven't raised it just yet, because I am trying to find the honest number for both myself and the customer.  I keep coming up with 175-225 I just don't want to be on the highend then run customers off but I don't want to be on the low end as I don't want to have to raise it the year after.  I try to set my prices to where I do not have to raise my prices every year or when material goes up so it doesn't look like the customer sees price increases all the time but rather raise them to a price I can sustain for 3-5 years before I have to raise them.   But don't get me wrong as there's a flip side to this, you can offset your prices with new business at your future 3-5 year price increase. 

[ndv]

5 minutes ago, One Man Banned said:

 

Tell me this is some trying to be funny and this isn't real

[One Man Banned]

5 minutes ago, ndv said:

Tell me this is some trying to be funny and this isn't real

 

I seen it on the interwebz, and that makes it real.

[LUGR]

3 hours ago, mr.yuck said:

 

I'll see him again tomorrow. He's outside all day shining up his whips and being in the thick of it with everyone that comes by. I'll try and get some video of him in action too. I heard fish fry come out of his mouth and I'm down af.

What’s he whippin?

[mr.yuck]

@ndvI was doing a little work for a bathroom remodeler, painting his bathrooms when he was about done with the rest of it. I was knockin him at like $600 a pop, the customers were providing the paint. I basically just had to show up with my tools and knock it out. I started feeling like "man this is too much." But at the same time he kept calling me for more and more shit. So I broached the subject on how he priced out his jobs to make sure he wasn't taking it on the chin too hard. He started laughing at me and come to find out, my man was charging like $14,000 per 5x8 bathroom. The only thing he supplied were construction materials. So that's shit like studs for if a wall needs reframing, screws, nails, tile backer, mortar. Everything else was on the customer. Tile, toilet, vanity, paint, faucets. I said "Jesus Christ, son." He told me he found God and the next year he was blessed and did over $400k. Okay bro. I see you. Lol. 

 

One of the hardest things I think to over come was the mindset of 'whats fair to pay myself' 'what does it actually cost to run this business' and 'what does it cost to run a successful business that can expand or absorb losses without folding.'

 

I'm finally hitting my stride on the last category and not feeling the need to explain anything further to customers and contractors beyond "the tape measurer is the boss."

[mr.yuck]

16 minutes ago, LUGR said:

What’s he whippin?

 

He was shining up a Ford escape or something. But I think I also saw a Lincoln in the driveway and a bigger SUV I think. We'll see tomorrow. I'm gonna ask him if I can borrow that Lincoln for prom.

[mr.yuck]

Man. I haven't seen the old homie all day. He posted up block captain style all day yesterday. My eyes playing tricks on me. He got a bunch of mid size SUVs no Lincoln's.

[ndv]

16 hours ago, mr.yuck said:

@ndvI was doing a little work for a bathroom remodeler, painting his bathrooms when he was about done with the rest of it. I was knockin him at like $600 a pop, the customers were providing the paint. I basically just had to show up with my tools and knock it out. I started feeling like "man this is too much." But at the same time he kept calling me for more and more shit. So I broached the subject on how he priced out his jobs to make sure he wasn't taking it on the chin too hard. He started laughing at me and come to find out, my man was charging like $14,000 per 5x8 bathroom. The only thing he supplied were construction materials. So that's shit like studs for if a wall needs reframing, screws, nails, tile backer, mortar. Everything else was on the customer. Tile, toilet, vanity, paint, faucets. I said "Jesus Christ, son." He told me he found God and the next year he was blessed and did over $400k. Okay bro. I see you. Lol. 

 

One of the hardest things I think to over come was the mindset of 'whats fair to pay myself' 'what does it actually cost to run this business' and 'what does it cost to run a successful business that can expand or absorb losses without folding.'

 

I'm finally hitting my stride on the last category and not feeling the need to explain anything further to customers and contractors beyond "the tape measurer is the boss."

 

You just nailed it.  you were showing up to the job site with nothing but your time, expertise, and paint brushes so to speak.  So you told yourself I am worth 600 per br.  If you felt you where over charging, I disagree, because most of the time, when you feel you may be over charging, you're probably not charging enough.  I mean don't get me wrong everything has it's price or market value, and you found your value for that job/task.  When I am quoting something and I feel I might be charging too much, I get the job in and realize I didn't charge enough or I charged exactly what is fair for the job.   Sometimes I loose money and didn't charge enough.

I mean if you loose sleep over a price because you feel you are charging too much, then yeah, I would lower the price with an explanation to the customer.  The goal here is to take advantage of your self-worth and establish honesty with the customer as well, but arguably one could say honesty comes at a price too so leave your price where it's at.   But if you choose to lower the price, you have them for life.

 

The only other way you could loose sleep is if you're just making so much money you can't sleep because you are thinking about all the things you can do in life.  Nothing wrong with that either.  

 

A good indication to know if you're just charging too much just because, is the customer with mention it and want to negotiate.  But even so this is still tricky because some times the price is the price and the customer has learned they can't afford what they want.

  

[mr.yuck]

@ndvthey got me again man. These fucking no experience having project managers strikes again. Job was grossly misrepresented. I'm going to work this hoe all day tomorrow just to get it out of my way. When it's all said and done my wife and I will be splitting $200 for the day. 

 

Bruh. That's minimum wage. I should just fold the whole thing up and go put in an application at Wendy's or something.

[ndv]

57 minutes ago, mr.yuck said:

@ndvthey got me again man. These fucking no experience having project managers strikes again. Job was grossly misrepresented. I'm going to work this hoe all day tomorrow just to get it out of my way. When it's all said and done my wife and I will be splitting $200 for the day. 

 

Bruh. That's minimum wage. I should just fold the whole thing up and go put in an application at Wendy's or something.

 

I've been there.  Stuff like this pisses me off the entire time I am working the on the job.  I can't have a clear mindset with these jobs. They piss me off so much i remeber it and pass on the future work.   Personally, I would say something along the lines of, I'll am loosing a tin of money working this job, but I'll help you out on this one, but I can't do this next time at this price."  

[mr.yuck]

7 minutes ago, ndv said:

 

I've been there.  Stuff like this pisses me off the entire time I am working the on the job.  I can't have a clear mindset with these jobs. They piss me off so much i remeber it and pass on the future work.   Personally, I would say something along the lines of, I'll am loosing a tin of money working this job, but I'll help you out on this one, but I can't do this next time at this price."  

 

Yeah. There is an additional $700 of plumbing work that I told him to add to my initial scope of work. The additional work should only take 4 hours at most and will help even out the rest of this stinker shit. I'm interested to see what he says he is willing to pay me for the plumbing work. I know what insurance pays for everything on the scope. His answer will hinge on whether or not we continue on together.

[mr.yuck]

BOOM SNACKA LACKA!

 

FINNA CRAP IN THE BIG BOY BATHROOM TONIGHT!

 

[mr.yuck]

I'm gonna be honest; I don't really like crapping on the new toilet. It doesn't feel like home.

[ndv]

1 hour ago, mr.yuck said:

I'm gonna be honest; I don't really like crapping on the new toilet. It doesn't feel like home.

 

Give it some time. It will com around.  However, I just came up with an idea that may help.  Expedite that feeling and blast it with that diarrhear and that should help, if not get super wasted and pass out hugging the bowl.  You'll be right at home. 

[mr.yuck]

I mean the bathroom has pretty much been done sans toilet for the past 8 months now. Ooohh. You know what I need to do? I need to get pulls for my vanity and towel bars and toilet paper holder and shit. Back in action fellas.

[LUGR]

Why you need a toilet paper holder?

[ndv]

1 hour ago, mr.yuck said:

I mean the bathroom has pretty much been done sans toilet for the past 8 months now. Ooohh. You know what I need to do? I need to get pulls for my vanity and towel bars and toilet paper holder and shit. Back in action fellas.

 

This is why you don't feel at home. As soon as you have all that, it won't feel like your dropping dueces at your neighbors house.

[ndv]

32 minutes ago, LUGR said:

Why you need a toilet paper holder?

 

Becuase you have to jimbo

[mr.yuck]

Cuz man. I don't live in county. I don't take my tp from my bunk to the shitter. I'm just fancy like that. If I did ever opt to take my tp from my bunk to the shitter, I would have to get some kind of ultra drippy leather LV toilet paper carrying case or a Gucci jank with a horse bit clasp. 

Edited May 18, 2023 by mr.yuck
Auto correct workin over time on this post

[LUGR]

Ahhhh I see…

 

I thought you had elevated to the next level.

 

Clearly, you have not.

[ndv]

[mr.yuck]

6 minutes ago, LUGR said:

Ahhhh I see…

 

I thought you had elevated to the next level.

 

Clearly, you have not.

 

 

Now it all makes sense. I don't even know if there is room to add that bidet piece. It took me everything to even get my hands back there to just hook up the regular water line to the toilet.

[mr.yuck]

 

Look at how tight that shit is. It's like maybe an inch and a half gap between the back of the toilet and the trim. Should have hooked all that shit up before I set the toilet.

[LUGR]

Well shit, who is in charge of this jank?!

[mr.yuck]

I'm gonna make an actual plan for down stairs. I can't fuckin do another 5 year remodel down there. It's like the mayor of fuck town is running the show around here.