| Are you trying to set a fair PC repair price that will | | | | time and materials, is by far and away the most |
| also bring you enough revenue and profitability to grow | | | | popular option for most PC repair businesses with |
| and sustain your business? | | | | diverse client lists. |
| PC repair prices vary from business to business, as | | | | 2. Know How to Start a Project Using Billable Hours. |
| there are a lot of different fee structure options. One | | | | The most important tip to remember when you |
| popular choice is to use billable hours, sometimes called | | | | estimate a PC repair price to your clients is to be |
| time and materials, to estimate and quantify your time | | | | upfront about all costs. There should be no surprises. |
| spent servicing clients. | | | | Before work begins, plan carefully and provide a |
| As you develop a more long-term relationship with | | | | written estimate calculating the amount per hour that |
| your clients, you will definitely want to get their | | | | will be charged. Also make sure you include a fair |
| commitment to on-going services through a PC repair | | | | projection of the number of hours you will need to |
| service contract, as this will ensure you get on-going, | | | | finish the project and be very clear. For instance, you |
| steady revenue for your business. And for your clients, | | | | could say, "Client agrees to pay $100 per hour for 6 |
| they'll have peace of mind knowing that you'll be there | | | | hours of work." |
| to take care of both their urgent and ongoing PC | | | | 3. Be Prepared if the Project Goes Over Budget. |
| repair and other IT-related needs. | | | | Often a project is bigger or more time consuming than |
| But as you are starting out and doing initial projects to | | | | you originally expected. Before beginning work, you |
| gain trust and establish a good working relationship, | | | | need to address this contingency in the written |
| setting a sustainable, profitable precedent for your PC | | | | estimate and include it in your PC repair price estimate. |
| repair price and billable hours is important. | | | | A clause can be added that the client must approve |
| Consider these 4 tips and best practices to make sure | | | | additional hours. This is often called a "change order" |
| that you select a PC repair price structure that's a | | | | and is critical to ensuring that you get paid |
| mutually win-win for both your company and your | | | | appropriately for the time you spend.... especially if the |
| clients. | | | | client introduces additional requirements after the |
| | | | original PC repair price is quoted. When working on |
| 1. Understand Billable Hours and Hourly Billing. Your PC | | | | long-term projects, make sure you keep your client |
| repair price can be based on a variety of fee-structure | | | | informed of your progress with a regular detailed |
| options. If you decide to use billable hours, you need to | | | | report of any additional costs or schedule changes. |
| do your homework. You need to ensure that clients | | | | This will help you build solid relationships and decrease |
| find your rates fair, but also that you can sustain your | | | | the chances of disputes over fees. |
| business profitably on the rates you set. The basic | | | | 4. Track Your Hours Well. Before you set a PC repair |
| concept behind billable hours is that you set an hourly | | | | price in stone for a project, discuss all details with each |
| rate for your work. When the project is completed, | | | | client. Will you be charging for travel time, documenting |
| you get paid for the number of hours you spent on the | | | | time, research time and phone time? And regardless |
| project. This often works well for consultants because | | | | of which software or service you use to keep track |
| it abides by the philosophy that time is money (which it | | | | of your billable hours, you need to keep careful track |
| most definitely is in the PC repair business), and it helps | | | | of your hours expended and make sure that you are |
| ensure those that use this structure are compensated | | | | taking into account all possible time and financial costs. |
| for their time. From your perspective, it's important to | | | | In this short article, you were introduced to how to |
| note that billing by-the-hour, again often referred to as | | | | manage a pricing structure based on billable hours. |