Where the money from a $189 service call actually goes
Every year a new tech sees an invoice and asks why he makes $22 an hour when we charged $189 for forty minutes. Fair question. Here's roughly how I explain it at my shop. Numbers differ everywhere; this is the shape, not a formula. - The tech's wage, plus payroll taxes and workers' comp on top of it - The truck: payment, fuel, insurance, repairs, the stock on the shelves - The office: the person who answered the phone and scheduled you - Drive time between calls that the customer never sees on the bill - Callbacks, which we fix for free - Slow weeks in October when the phones are quiet and everyone still gets paid After all that, a healthy shop keeps a margin, and plenty of shops don't. I'd rather you understand this before you go out on your own and price yourself out of business.