The business · Lesson 04 · 6 min
What to charge
The price is yours. Nobody honest can hand it to you. What you can do this week is find the floor, so you don't pick a number that loses money on every stop.
What the week costs you
Write the costs of being on the road. Fuel. Chemicals. Insurance, once you have it. The phone. The hours you are actually out, including the drive between houses. A price that does not cover that week is a job you are paying to have.
Leave the customer's price blank until that list exists. People pick a number because it sounds friendly, then spend the summer resenting the route.
What the town already pays
Ask what pools on those streets already pay. Owners in town know the going rate, and so do the customers. Use that as the market and your costs as the floor. If the market sits under your floor, the route is too spread out, or the work you are promising is too much for the price.
Winning the first ten pools by being the cheapest fills the book with stops you will want to drop. Charge for the visit you actually do. When you want the longer version owners use, read how a route gets priced. Then decide.