One of the hardest parts about being a business owner,
contractor, or self employed, is estimating the costs
associated with producing goods or services. If your dealing
with an item that has a set cost, and you know all your
overhead costs associated with manufacturing your product,
you just need to determine what you want your profit
margin to be.
Sounds simple enough. But what if you are just starting you
business. You dont have a clue how long it will take to make
your product, or how much to charge. If you price it to low,
you will lose money, to high, you wont sell anything. Either
way you wont be in business long.
Unless you have actually worked in the production of your
product, or have a vast knowledge of your industry, there is
no way a person is going to be able to estimate the costs,
without some idea of the time that is invloved.
The time it takes one person to do a task, will be differant
from others. Your material costs normally stay static, but
labor costs vary.
One of the tricks I used when I first started out, was to call
on my competetors and ask for a quote on a sign, that I
hold no idea how to price. It was for a concrete monument
sign, I knew I could make the foam letters for the form, but
I had no idea the time it would take to fabricate the form.
Well after the first couple of signs, I was able to dial in my
costs, and have produced a ton of signs since.
If your struggling with estimating, you may want to
consider getting a quote from a competetor or two, until you
get the hang of it.