I used to work around the school run a lot.
So I'd drop my kids at breakfast club.
Sometimes I'd do three or four hours,
depending on the day,
tidy up a bit and go and pick the kids up again.
Because I could, because I would work intensively
on my terms.
I'd work hard and intensively,
and I'll be able to make my hours extremely flexible
and earn high profit.
Whereas if I was in a day-rate situation like that,
I wouldn't be able to do that.
I've spoke a lot about plaster patches.
I used to do plaster patches, guys.
So, you know, I'd do a couple of plaster patches a day.
Instead of saying to the customer,
you've got a plaster patch downstairs in your lounge
and you've got another one in your bathroom.
I'll have that done in a day, call it 200.
I wouldn't price like that.
Because that is site price thinking,
that's day-rate thinking.
What I would do is I'd say,
okay, Mrs. Smith, the water damage ceiling in the lounge,
I'm gonna cut out and replaster board that area
and seal the edges and plaster patch it in
to match the existing finish.
That one's gonna be 220 pounds for that patch.
She'd go, okay, no worries.
And for the one upstairs, a bit more involved,
that's gonna be 250.
I'll cut out a bit more
and there's a bit more sheeting up to the top there.
But I should hopefully have it all done within a day.
All the waste will be removed.
It will be freshly plastered, ready for painting.
And she'd bite my hand off.
You know, I'd walk away with four and a half,
500 pounds doing a couple of plaster patches.
This is how you price plastering work through packages.
You don't just walk in and think,
ah, I was only gonna take me four hours,
and might as well tell her 200.
Because that 200 figure was given to you by a builder
who doesn't know the numbers in your business,
who doesn't know how much you want to make a year.
He's just trying to offer you the bare minimum
that you can get away with
because he's trying to make money off you himself.
So think about this idea of packages
and bin off trading time for money.