Not because you don't know your trade. Not because the work wasn't good. Because pricing a job and running a profitable business are two different skills, and most people in the trades were taught one of them.
The quote covers the job. Not the business.
Labour and materials. Maybe a bit of contingency if the job is complex. That's the standard approach, and it produces a number that feels about right.
What it doesn't cover: vehicle costs, tools, insurance, fuel, the hour spent on-site quoting a job that doesn't come off, the two hours chasing an invoice that's six weeks overdue, the slow week in January when nothing new comes in. These aren't extras — they're the cost of operating. If they're not in the rate, they come out of your margin. And most of the time, they do.
"Hard work and profitable work aren't the same thing. Most tradespeople know the difference — they just don't know how to price for it."
The fear of losing the job.
Quote too high and someone else gets it. That fear is real, especially when the diary isn't full. But it creates a cycle that's hard to break: low quotes win the jobs, low jobs pay poorly, you take on more work to cover the gap, margins stay thin, the diary fills up with work that doesn't actually pay what it should.
It's not a business problem in the traditional sense. It's a pricing confidence problem. And it's everywhere in the trades.
No written day rate.
Without a written day rate, every quote starts from scratch. You're not pricing from a position — you're estimating from instinct. And when you're estimating from instinct under pressure, you almost always round down.
I've rarely seen a tradesperson round up without something to anchor to. That written rate is your anchor. Without it, the number in your head is doing all the work — and that number has been shaped by years of quoting low and winning jobs.
What it actually costs.
Not just in money — though the money is significant. In most cases I've looked at, the gap between what a tradesperson charges and what their work is actually worth runs somewhere between 15 and 30 per cent. On a £60,000 turnover, that's £9,000 to £18,000 left on the table every year.
But the cost that doesn't show up in a spreadsheet is time. Taking on four jobs when three at the right rate would have been enough. Working Saturdays not because you want to but because the margins on the week don't add up otherwise. Quoting a job in January and realising in March that you lost money on it.
Underpricing doesn't just affect your bank account. It affects how you run the business — and how much of your life the business takes.
What the fix looks like.
It's not complicated. It's not a rebrand or a new website or a marketing strategy. It's three things:
- A proper cost calculation — what does a working day actually cost you to operate, before you've earned a pound? Most tradespeople have never done this calculation. The number is usually surprising.
- A rate card — written down, not revised downward on a job-by-job basis. Something you can quote from rather than quote around.
- A pricing conversation — knowing how to hold the number when a client pushes back. Because they will push back. And if you don't have a position to hold, you'll move.
Most of this can be done in one focused session. It doesn't require months of work or an ongoing commitment. It requires sitting down, doing the calculation honestly, and writing the number down.
I spent 25 years in construction. I've seen what happens when a tradesperson prices well — and what happens when they don't. The difference isn't talent or effort. It's almost always this.
