The new guy made me rethink my whole approach to quoting jobs

So we got this kid fresh out of trade school last month, and he sits in on a bid I'm doing for a kitchen reno in Aurora. I'm running through my usual numbers, nothing special. After the client leaves he asks why I didn't factor in the extra time for the plaster walls. I told him I always just add a flat 10% for unknowns. He pulls out his phone and shows me a calculator he made with different percentages for plaster, lathe, drywall, tile backsplash - stuff I never thought to separate out. I ran a few of my old jobs through his model and I was undershooting by like 15% on plaster jobs every time. Been doing this 12 years and a 22 year old with a spreadsheet showed me up. Has anyone else had a junior coworker drop some obvious knowledge that you missed for years?

3 comments

3 Comments

diana_moore7513d ago

That line about "adding a flat 10% for unknowns" really hit home because that's exactly what I used to do too. Now I'm wondering how many years of profit I left on the table with that lazy math.

tessa_hill8613d ago

I get your point but that flat 10% actually saved me from overthinking and losing sleep over small details.

robertb3013d ago

Yeah, "lazy math" really got me too. I used to think that flat 10% was just being smart, like you were covering your bases without overcomplicating things. But reading this whole thread made me realize I was just avoiding the hard work of actually looking at the numbers. It's like I was paying a tax for not wanting to put in the effort to understand my own business. Now I'm kind of embarrassed I never questioned it before.