Mooloo's "Making my future, one stitch at a time"?

Savvy_sewing

Spent the evening photographing a bag of clothes that we have taken off on rotation. Put them up on one of the local Facebook pages.
Give them 24 hours before I try a different group. There are so many local selling sites I don't know which is the best one!
Weird dreams last night. There is a lot going on in my mind, and my dreams were about spending too much money and cashflow! So I best take heed of my subconscious mind and make sure I don't over spend.
My Aldi shop came to around £37. I needed cleaning materials, toiletries, and fresh fruit oh and breakfast cereals.
But it should stop me from popping into Tesco Express on the way home from work.
Tonight I am teaching, so as soon as I get to work I must sort out the workshop ready. Then sew like the devil is in the detail.
Hopefully yesterday as the shop was only open till 1pm it didn't get too busy!
Have a good day people. Time to wake DGD. Which will be interesting as she woke up around 10.30 and took ages to go back to bed.

Savvy_sewing

Time is flying!
I am so busy at work I'm getting a little worried.
The money is tight as the wages go out etc. I need to get the stuff turned around and paid for fast or my rent payment is going to be touch and go! Eek. I timed myself today on a unusual job that I had to guess the cost of.
But every time I got interrupted I stopped the watch. Out of 3 hours, I only managed 1.50hrs as the rest if the time I was dealing with customers. As I was on my own.
So I lost an hour serving out of the three hours is needed to sew.
I went back for an hour and a bit while DGD was at Brownies.. I managed to do 3 pairs of trouser hems, a dress and half of the hem on a skirt.
So the cushion replacement panels ( only 45 years old so she wants more life out of them!!!). Took 3 hours of interrupted time and earned me £30
Then the 3 trousers and dress hem earned me £42 and the skirt will be another £15 finished in the morning!
I need to sew when the shop is shut.
We took in 16 new jobs today. My rails are full.
The collection rail As well as incoming rail.
So I am hoping that the money will come in a bit faster over this last week. I need£400 to pay the rent, and by the end of the week another £300 ish on wages. ( mine may have to wait another few months!)

Savvy_Sue

Seroiusly Mooloo, start factoring into jobs whether you WANT to do them, not just how long they will take.

And remember that you WILL get interruptions, and 'dead' time in which you can't sew, and your hourly rate has to reflect that.

If it's any use, my gardener charges £15 per hour, and I think that's at least what you should be aiming for too. She doesn't have premises and staff to pay!

On unusual jobs, be sure to quote on the high side, preferably the very high side!

trix-a-belle

Exactly what sue says you should be aiming for at least £15 an hour (my gardener charges £15 for the first & £10 for any subsequent hours on general grass cutting & tidying jobs, specialist works start at £25 ish per hour)
People clearly want to use you so you can take advantage of that to raise prices slightly which hopefully will get better quality more worthwhile work. & as I have mentioned before, make sure people are not being unreasonable in their expected turn arounds, you set that based on your comfort & if they want things sooner then they need to be paying a premium
Xx

thorsoak

Your hourly rate should also factor in the cost of your rent, rates, electricity and other overheads as well as what you would want to pay yourself, Mooloo!

Errata

A very broad rule of thumb is profit on a job should be 50% of the costs:
rent
rates
utilities
insurance
staff costs
employer NI
equipment repair/replacment/additional
vehicle tax/insurance/fuel/maintenance
childcare costs

At the very best, it looks like you might have made £2 to £3 on a pair of trousers minus your own tax/NI/sickness and holiday pay (if any).
I think a review of your pricing structure and a good overhaul is due, so either do it yourself or seek guidance and advice from someone who is experienced in costings. It doesn't matter what the end product is, costings experience is costings experience.

I've checked the price for shortening/lengthening at the dressmakers shop in my west Yorkshire town, and it's £15, and people here are very careful when it comes to spending money.
HTH

Savvy_Sue

And I was quoted £40 for re-lining a skirt.

*Robin*

Hi Mooloo, :hello:

Can you do heavier duty stuff than clothing?
Reckon the previous owner of m' second-hand camper van spilled something caustic on one of the seats, because the cover is falling apart (after a week ).
I've been quoted a ridiculous sum for having replacements made, but if that's the cost then I'd far rather support you than a large company (who are a lot further away too).

Savvy_sewing

*Robin* wrote: »

Hi Mooloo, :hello:

Can you do heavier duty stuff than clothing?
Reckon the previous owner of m' second-hand camper van spilled something caustic on one of the seats, because the cover is falling apart (after a week ).
I've been quoted a ridiculous sum for having replacements made, but if that's the cost then I'd far rather support you than a large company (who are a lot further away too).

Hi Robin,
I do cushions, with piping and zips etc for seats.
I have been charging £20 labour if the customer provides all the fabrics etc. However after checking my timings I think I need to at least double it.
I worked out that the shop costs me £22.50 an hour so I needto adjust my prices accordingly. But the main prices went up in January and I'm reluctant to put them up again.
I'm hoping that the consumables will start to bring in more the more people realise I have them.
I will really try and get time in the evenings to get the facts and figures together.
Thanks people.

Feral_Moon

Hope these might help

http://www.sewmore.co.uk/prices.htm

http://thelittlepincushion.co.uk/price-lists/clothing-alterations/

http://www.sewingstop.co.uk/price-list

http://simplyalterations.vpweb.co.uk/Price-List.html

Particularly like the last one which stipulates a weekly turn around with only one day per week allocated to deliveries/collections/fittings by appointment only. Presumably they don't have an actual shop, possibly working from home, which wouldn't apply to you for collection/deliveries. But I wonder whether making fittings as 'appointment only' would help organise your time better so you can get on and sew without interruption. Staff can take in simple collections and deal with deliveries. Maybe arrange appointments for the fittings on your half day morning and/or a Saturday morning? Just an idea