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Talked to a plumber friend last night and now I'm second-guessing my whole approach
My buddy who does plumbing in Dallas told me he never gives a flat rate for anything over $500 anymore. He said too many jobs end up with surprise issues that eat into his profit, like a water heater swap that turned into a full pipe replacement. That hit different for me because I've been doing flat rates for my landscaping work, thinking it makes me look reliable. He showed me his numbers from last year where he lost about $2,300 on three jobs that went sideways. Now I'm wondering if I should switch to time and materials for my bigger projects. Has anyone else here made that switch and seen a real difference in their bottom line?
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wells.evan3mo ago
Did you see that article in the trade mag about how plumbers in Texas are ditching flat rates for exactly this reason? I swore by flat rates for years until I read that and started tracking my own surprise costs. It adds up fast, especially on the big jobs.
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anna7173mo ago
Steve from my Sunday league has been doing flat rates for twenty years and his margins are actually better than most. He says the key is building a buffer into the price for those surprise problems, not just guessing. If you're losing money that way, maybe the problem is how you estimate, not the pricing model itself.
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