Pricing
How to price a job: the complete guide for trade businesses
Price any trade job so it pays for your labor, the hours nobody sees, your overhead and a real profit. Five steps and a worked example you can copy.
For owners of small trade businesses
Run your trade business on real numbers
Pricing, insurance, software and customers for owners of small handyman, cleaning, painting and landscaping businesses.
Start here
Starting
How to start a home service business: the complete guide
Licenses, business structure, EIN, insurance, taxes, startup costs, prices and first customers for a new cleaning, handyman, painting or lawn business.
Guides by topic
Starting a Trade Business
From the first tools and the first customer to your first busy season.
- How much it really costs to start a cleaning business
- How to start a cleaning business, step by step
- How to start a commercial cleaning business
- How to start a handyman business
- How to start a home service business: the complete guide Guide
Pricing & Estimates
Price every job so it covers your time, your overhead and a real profit.
- How to bid lawn care jobs, residential and commercial
- How to price and bid a paint job
- How to estimate a paint job by the square foot
- Handyman hourly rate: how much to charge and when to go flat rate
- How to price a job: the complete guide for trade businesses Guide
Latest guides
Pricing
How to bid lawn care jobs, residential and commercial
Price lawn care visits and commercial seasons from labor, equipment wear, drive time, overhead and margin. Worked examples: $55 a visit, a $9,250 season.
Pricing
How to price and bid a paint job
Walk-through checklist, measuring, your own production rates, real labor cost, lead-safe rules and a worked three-bedroom bid you can copy.
Starting
How much it really costs to start a cleaning business
Split startup costs into one-time and monthly expenses, count a full year of running costs and see how much cash to plan for. Two worksheets with examples.
Pricing
How to estimate a paint job by the square foot
Measure walls, ceilings and trim, then build your own price per square foot from labor, overhead and paint costs. Worked example for a 12 x 14 room.
Pricing
Handyman hourly rate: how much to charge and when to go flat rate
Build a handyman hourly rate from your wage, self-employment tax, unbilled time, overhead and margin. Worked example: $30 of pay becomes a $68 rate.
Pricing
How to price a job: the complete guide for trade businesses
Price any trade job so it pays for your labor, the hours nobody sees, your overhead and a real profit. Five steps and a worked example you can copy.
Who writes this
Arthur runs a home-services company with its own crews. He writes about pricing, insurance and the numbers behind a small trade business.