For over a dozen years,
NSPG has been providing the tools that allow contractors to
increase profits and minimize business hassles. With our
simple-to-use-tools, you can make being a business owner
what you always wanted to it be -
successful, profitable and rewarding.
 Are Your Prices Up-To-Date?
Each year my insurance
company sends a replacement cost analysis for my home.
"The replacement cost is the cost to recreate
that exact asset in that exact location".
My policy includes a full
replacement cost rider, so they should pay actual
current prices to replace my losses. This year, the
numbers took a bigger jump (11.3%) than I have seen for
many years. Here are a few of the detailed increases they
list.
-
Plumbing - 7.2%
-
Heating and Air Conditioning - 9.7%
-
Electrical System - 11.4%
Now I don't know how
accurate these increases are for my specific house, but I assume that they
have used actual measured cost numbers to arrive at
them. After all, they will have to pay me if a
catastrophe strikes.
 So
here's where your part of this story comes in.
Take a look at your invoices from last December.
Take an invoice from yesterday. Now compare your
prices on the two.
Have you increased your
prices to reflect the actual cost increases you have
experienced this year? Have you updated your Flat
Rate Books to reflect your current profitable pricing?
December is the best time to re-check your prices
so you can start the new year confident that you are
making the profit you need. Take a few minutes and
plug in your up-to-date costs into Numbers Cruncher
today.
You may wonder why December is the best time to update
your breakeven calculation. I'll try to explain it
as simply as possible. December is the best time
to be sure that you are charging a profitable price
because it's December now! Every day you wait, you
could be losing money.
Christmas and the Trades
Here's a little e-book that may have a lesson for many
members of the trades.
The Plumber and the Wishing Well
A plumber doesn't have enough
money for his children's Christmas presents. His friend, Tupo, discovers a secret wishing well. The wishing well had broken down
so it can't grant them their Christmas wishes. Tupo tells them they need a plumber to repair it.
When the plumber arrives to do the
job, the little people offer to pay him lots of money
that he could use for his children's presents. He is
very good at fixing broken pipes and leaking taps but
can he repair a wishing well? If he can, everyone,
including his children, are going to get their Christmas
presents and have their best Christmas ever.
If you
don't Crunch Your Numbers regularly, no amount of
wishing will help.
Measure Monthly, Adjust Quarterly
& Achieve Annual Profit Goals
New Tax Refund and Your
Sales
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 goes into effect on
January 1, 2006. A key provision of this new law
allows for tax credits for your customers when they make
energy saving improvements. You should find out the
details of this law from your local association and use
it as another selling tool. Chances are your
low-ball competitors will not know the details and will
not use it to sell their services. Here's an overview of
the new law.
 Tax
credits of up to $500 in 2006 & 2007 for money spent on
existing homes to upgrade heating and air conditioning
systems, insulation, windows, doors and thermostats,
caulk leaks, install pigmented metal roofs and otherwise
cut energy waste. The write-offs break down
with a maximum tax credit of $200 for windows, $300 for
air-conditioning, heat pumps and water heaters, and $150
for installation of a highly efficient furnace or
boiler.
There is also a program for businesses that include
larger write offs for improvements in electric systems and
lighting.
Remember that these are tax credits, so your clients
receive the full dollar amount off their federal taxes. |
