NOW: paradigm shift

[Mike Schwartz]

> On Behalf Of Kenneth Brody
> > You render a bill for your
> > service.  Many times, your client really has no idea of what it took
> to
> > correct the problem.  He gets your bill and complains, "you were here
> for
> > only xxx, why is you bill so high?"
> [...]
> 
> Itemized bill:
> 
>      Hitting pipe with hammer:   $5
>      Knowing where to hit it:  $100
> --
> KenBrody at BestWeb dot net  

     You neglected to add:

       Travel Time:         $50.00
       2007 Fuel Surcharge: $12.00

     Back when I first started out in my own business, circa 1985, I
couldn't figure out why I was going broke by charging $35.00 an hour.  Then
I started to see a pattern:  

     1) Spend an hour driving out to Winniconnie
     2) Spend 15 minutes fixing printer; charge customer 1/2 hour of time
($17.50)
     3) Take customer to lunch ($10.00 lunch expense for both of us)
     4) Spend an hour driving home

     When I had to have the furnace guy over for the 3rd time to fix the
same problem, I was surprised when I got the bill and saw three (3) $12.00
"2007 Fuel" surcharges that he didn't mention when I asked for a quote on
his rates over the phone.  

Mike Schwartz