How to price jobs when you're a one-person trade business
Pricing is the difference between a business that lasts and one that burns out. Here's a practical, no-jargon approach for solo operators.
Start from your costs, not from a guess
Most solo trades price by looking at what the competitor charges and nudging it. That works until it doesn't — because your costs aren't your competitor's costs. Before you set a price, know two numbers cold:
- Your hourly break-even. Total monthly costs (vehicle, tools, insurance, fuel, software, a wage you can live on) divided by the hours you can actually bill in a month. Not the hours you work — the hours you bill.
- Materials markup. The cushion on materials that covers ordering time, pickups, returns, and the inevitable waste. 15–30% is common; track yours and adjust.
Estimate in line items, not a single number
A lump-sum quote leaves the customer guessing — and leaves you absorbing surprises. Break the job into line items: labor, materials, disposal, travel. Three good things happen:
- The customer trusts the price because they can see what's behind it.
- You catch underpriced work before you commit to it.
- When scope changes mid-job, you have a baseline to adjust from.
The amtocsoft estimate builder does exactly this — line items with quantities and unit prices, with the math handled for you.
Build in the work you don't bill for
Quoting, driving, ordering, invoicing, chasing payment — none of it shows up on a timesheet, but all of it has to get paid for. If your hourly rate only covers the hours you're on the tools, you're effectively working the rest for free. A healthy solo rate bakes the overhead in.
Review your prices on a schedule
The cheapest mistake to fix is a price you set a year ago and forgot about. Pick a date — quarterly is plenty — and look at your last few jobs. Were they as profitable as you expected? If material costs moved, did your prices move with them? Adjust, then update your templates.
Put it into practice
Build a real estimate with the pricing above in a few minutes — no sign-up needed.