Effective hourly rate = (call fee + labor + parts margin) / total hours, including travel, diagnosis, the parts run, the repair, and the paperwork. Track it weekly from job one, not revenue.
| Line | Worked example (one week) | Your week |
|---|---|---|
| Completed calls | 20 | |
| Average ticket | $160 | $ |
| Blended margin | 40% | |
| Gross profit | $1,280 | $ |
| Loaded hours (incl. ~2 hrs/day driving, parts runs, paperwork) | ~50 | |
| Effective hourly rate | $23/hr | $ |
Worked example from "The Honest Money Math," labeled as such. $23/hr is below the median employee wage ($47,170/yr, ~$22.68/hr) before self-employment tax and insurance; tighter routing, a higher ticket, and parts runs consolidated to twice weekly change the business. Field labor averages ~$54/hr nationally; the lesson's $60 hour is the contrasting target, the $23 hour the worked example.
| Single job | Amount / hours |
|---|---|
| Call fee + labor + parts margin collected | $ |
| Hours: travel + diagnosis + parts run + repair + paperwork | |
| Job effective rate | $ |
Warranty-network jobs: track their effective rate separately (worked contrast from the course: a $120 warranty flat rate minus a $50 part is $70 before fuel, against $90-110 gross on a ~$200 customer-pay repair at the 45-55% service margin). Let the number decide.
Completed repairs most often run $108-251 (national average near $179). Goal: live in the upper half of that band on jobs you complete in one visit. Guard the average ticket, not the individual price; bundled repairs at the same visit (two appliances, one trip fee) move volume without wrecking the ticket.
| Week | Completed calls | Revenue | Average ticket |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | |||
| 2 | |||
| 3 | |||
| 4 |
Callbacks are the silent profit leak: a redone job costs the parts, the hour, and a piece of reputation. High callback weeks mean diagnostic discipline slipped; the fix is slower testing, not faster swapping. Policy: go back, re-diagnose with the full method, fix what is yours for free, explain what is not, price new work honestly.
| Date / job | Cause (mine / new failure / expectation) | Cost (parts + hour) | Fix made |
|---|---|---|---|
Rhythm: diagnose Monday, buy the part on your card Tuesday, complete and collect Thursday. Worked example from the course: an $85 part bought Tuesday against $235 collected Thursday. Keep a float, even $500, dedicated to parts. Never order a part you have not proven failed with a test.
| Date | Part / job | Cost | Collected | Float balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Build the menu from your own completed jobs: average time, average parts cost, plus a margin, rounded to clean numbers. Benchmarks: labor averages ~$54/hr nationally; parts markup 30-100% tiered (small parts under ~$25 at the high end, mid-range parts around half, expensive parts toward the bottom). Invoice shows "parts" and "labor," not cost basis.
| Job (menu line) | Avg time | Avg parts cost | Margin | Menu price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Raising prices: when the calendar books a week out, the service call fee climbs ten dollars, the menu shifts up, watch the phone for a month. Effective hourly rate is the referee: stagnating while the calendar fills means prices lag demand. Service call fee benchmark: $75-125 with the credited diagnostic as the dominant structure.