How much should you charge per hour as a handyman?Unfortunately, there is no simple answer.  In fact, handyman hourly rates are all over the map.  Some demand over $100/hour (I’ve seen $150/hr) because they know what their doing and do it efficiently, professionally, and immaculately.  Then, there are the guys on craigslist that only charge $10/hour and still have trouble getting customers!So, where do you fit in on this scale?  What’s a good rate to base your service pricing on?That’s what I hope to help you answer in this article.  I’m going to lay out a step-by-step process you can follow to help nail down a rate that will keep you profitable and busy.Whether you are charging by the hour or by the job, follow these steps to price for success.How much does it cost for you to live comfortably and happy?Write down a list of all of your expenses and an approximate monthly total for each.  Spend time and try to think of all of your expenses, even the ones you only pay once a year.  

Assign a monthly value to each and  add them into an excel spreadsheet (or just write them down).Make sure not to leave anything out.  Include entertainment and even a little extra for unexpected expenses.  business for sale littlehampton west sussexThe idea here is see how much living actually costs.  ikea handyman serviceIf saving money for retirement is part of your lifestyle, make sure and include that, too.roger's handyman servicesNow, list your handyman business expenses and assign a monthly value to each expense.  business for sale bangalowOnce again, include everything.  handyman service orlando

Here is a list of most handyman business expenses.(To get more detail on the expenses of running a handyman business, check out this complete pricing guide which details all of the expenses you will encounter and other helpful tips and strategies to help you succeed.)business for sale btcFigure out your tax responsibilities by doing a little research.  business for sale olongapoHere are some taxes you will be required to pay.  However, this list is not all inclusive and you may have other tax obligations outside of these.  I am not a tax professional and am only providing the following information as an example.  Your specific tax obligations may be different and you may consider consulting with a professional. – For the year of 2014, self employment taxes are set at 15.3% according to irs.gov.  These do change each year, so you’ll need to keep up with this.

–   As you probably already know, this tax depends on how much money you make each year.  The more you make, the higher the percentage of taxes you will pay.  For the purpose of figuring out your hourly rate, you will need to estimate this tax.  After all expenses and tax write-offs, I don’t plan on making more than $30,000 this year.  I’ve estimated my federal income tax at about 15% based on my expected tax bracket. – Check with your state to find out if you need to pay this tax.Once you have an estimated percentage for each tax, add them all up to come up with your total tax percentage.Let’s say your taxes are as follows:Self employment:  13.3% Federal Income Tax:  15.0% (based on less than 32K/year) State Income Tax: 0%Total Taxes = 28.3% (example only)The next step is to figure out how many billable hours you are going to work each month (assuming you have the business).You may be thinking that 40 hours is a good estimate.  In reality, however, with all of the quoting, following up, driving time, etc. it is probably more realistic that you will bill somewhere in between 25 and 35 hours per week.

The goal here isn’t to see how many hours a week you can work, but how many hours it is reasonable to work without totally consuming your life.  After all, you’ve started this business to have some freedom right?  Enjoy that freedom and set a limit on your billable hours.For my handyman business, I’ve decided that 25 hours/week is a good amount of work.  This allows me time to improve my business, have a personal life, and run this blog.  I’ve based my work load on my own personal lifestyle design.  I recommend you do the same.Don’t want to do the math? I’ve created an hourly rate calculator to help you do this faster than ever! Click here to download “The Handyman Hourly Rate Calculator.”Now that you have an understanding of your costs and how much you think is a reasonable time to work, you can do some quick calculations to see how much you need to charge to live the lifestyle you have designed for yourself.It goes like this: Total Monthly Living Expenses = L Total Monthly Business Expenses = B Total Hours/Month = H Total Taxes (%) = T  Hourly Rate = L/[H * (1 – T)] + B/HExample: So let’s say you need to make $3,000/month to live, expected your business expenses to be about $1,200/month, estimate your taxes at about 30%, and plan to work about 32 billable hours per week.

L = Monthly living expenses = $3,000 B = Business Expenses = $1,200 H= Monthly Billable Hours = 128 T = Total Tax Rate = 30% = 0.30Hourly Rate = $3,000/[128 *(1-.3)] + $1,200/128 =  $42.86/hour  So, now you know how much you need to charge in order to live the now defined lifestyle that you have laid out in terms of expenses. The next step is to evaluate this hourly rate and determine if how you can provide that much value in one hour.Is the number you came up with reasonable?  Based on your experience, qualifications, etc, can you comfortably look a customer in the eye and say “I charge X amount?”  If you can, awesome. If you don’t feel comfortable charing that amount, why not? What’s holding you back? I’ve found that most handymen tend to undervalue their services. I made that mistake and it cost me tens of thousands in my first year as a handyman. Instead, learn the business skills you need so you can gain the confidence to charge what you should. It’s likely higher than you think.