Small jobs

[Rich]

Once in a while, someone will come in to the shop with a small job, one that requires about 20-30 minutes work. It's not too small to give away as a goodwill gift, but not large enough to charge an hour's worth of labor either. Or is it? What do you generally charge for this type of job, The first hour? or something less?
Rich

[sofadoc]

On those "tweener" jobs (not quite small enough to give away), I usually tell the customer that I will have to work it in when I can. It might be a day, a week, or even a month.
Then, when I'm in the mood, I'll knock out several of them at once. This way, I can keep the cost down for the customer, since it's probably something that they don't want to spend a lot on anyway.

[scottymc]

Depends on if I know them, if I don't or I don't like them its $50 minimum. Get them to pick it up later, don't let them see how easy a job it was. At the moment I get alot of surfboard bags with coroded zips and charge $40 for 2m size 10 chunky zip and 2 plastic sliders and 10 minutes labor, if its one of my bags I do it for nothing  

[bobbin]

I charge for the time required and any materials required.  I find that often the small repairs are quite lucrative.  I try to turn them around quickly and will often finish out a day or begin a day with one or two of them. 

[baileyuph]

Small jobs are good for me, time and materials are very accurate and that is what the price is based on.

As far as scheduling, get er done!  Usually I want them out of the way and the item is something the customer needs.

Doyle

[SHHR]

It all depends on the situation. I know of shops who have it posted a minimum of 1 hr labor on all jobs and I always tell myself I have the same policy although not posted. I will and have just charged a half hour labor. It also depends on the attitude of the customer. If they act like it's no big deal and I ought to be able to drop everything and solve their problem then they'll wait their turn and pay for an hour, but if they are laid back and don't seem too worried or if I can tell they're in a bind needing it, I'll try to work it in if I can and charge them only a half hour.
Kyle

[mike802]

I charge a minimum of an hours labor unless the customer brings me repeat business.  Someone with a regular account I usually charge only for time and materials and sometimes will do it for free.

Most people do not realize that a small job can cause aggravation if the shop is busy with deadlines.  You have to stop what you are doing, clear off a work space, change thread and bobbin, change feet and most importantly change your mind set.  Once the job is finished you have to change everything back to what you were doing before the interruption and try to get back into the groove.  I have found that changing from one job to another can cause mistakes to be made because the "mind set" has been broken.  For some reason those little easy jobs can turn into nightmares.

[scottymc]

My eyes glaze over when I hear the phrase "I've gotta a small job it wont take long".

[mike802]

Back when I was a department manager for a large handcrafted furniture maker the production manager for the wooden furniture part of the business came to me and asked if I could fit in a small five minute job.  I told him sure, but there was a new procedure for rush jobs, he said "ok what do I have to do"?  I said "you have to go to the office and fill out the rush order request form, in triplicate."  He says "why in triplicate?"  I said "because a copy has to be filed with the office manager, the owner and myself."  He said "ok then what?"  And I told him next he would have to fill out a meeting request form, once again in triplicate, so each party would have documentation of the meeting request.  If accepted, a meeting would have to be scheduled between the three of us to make sure there were no up coming deadlines that the rush order would interfere with,  then if there were no upcoming obligations the office manager would submit to him a rush order acceptance form where he could state the nature of the project,  why the need for a rush order and also at this time he must fill out a regular work order.  He then asked me how long all this would take?  I told him there was no way I could fit in a rush order meeting within the next three weeks and depending on everyone else's schedule he would be looking at six weeks tops.  I couldn't believe he was going along with me on this, but he was ex-military, anyway he finally says that's crazy, its only a five minuet job!  Then I said "well, you could just leave it here and I will try and fit in after my break as long as it's not a rush job." :P

[bobbin]

I was thinking about "small jobs" the other day and this thread came to mind.  I think "small" is sort of a relative term.  I say that because in the world of tailoring and alterations all the jobs are "small" and most don't involve huge blocks of time.  Because of that, it's important to approach the work in an organized manner.  For instance:  I will prep. all the work I need to do that day (marking/cutting hems, removing zippers, ripping down sleeves and marking the correct length, etc.).  Then I seperate it into piles according to the color of the thread required for overlocking, stitching, etc. because minimizing thread changes and maximizing time at any specific machine and having several pcs. to work on at a time maximizes efficiency.  Then I will move to the next machine required to accomplish the work, say, the blindstitch or the single needle.  Next, I will do any handwork (sleeve linings, buttons, closures), and finally I will move to the pressing station to "finish" the alterations for pick up. 

Again, because much of my work involves multiple pieces of work and multiple machine applications I tend to view "small jobs" as simply part of what I do and not give it much thought, at all. 

[sofadoc]

Again, because much of my work involves multiple pieces of work and multiple machine applications I tend to view "small jobs" as simply part of what I do and not give it much thought, at all. 

I can certainly see why you would view them that way.
Doing furniture, I can't always pull away from a sectional sofa just because someone brings in a small cushion that the dog has chewed one corner off of. Or a filthy trampoline that needs to be re-sewn (sometimes it takes longer to clean the machine afterwards, than it took to re-sew it).
If I had multiple machines each dedicated to a specific purpose, I probably would do things more like bobbin.
But it works better for me to see a project straight through.

[Rich]

Mike802, that was a good one! I live in an area where many people work either in government or large company jobs and when something needs to be done in our church, even a small thing, they don't seem to mind all the red tape that surrounds it. I, having never had exposure to any of that, am of the mindset, OK, let's just do it! I like simple.
Rich

[bobbin]

Yes, Sofa., I prefer to see a project through to the end, too.  But I find that repair jobs at my "straight job" are pretty easy to work into nearly any day's workload, too.  As I said, I often begin the day with a little job or end the day with one. 

I know what you mean about cleaning up after a particularly dirty job.  That is why I charge jobs out based on time and materials required.  And if the work is really dirty, I simply add the necessary clean up to the price they will pay.  Pool covers and trampolines are usually pretty gross, I hear you on that one, lol.  So are really large awnings that require restitching on the seams or the mending of large tears (careless roofers or large slides involving snow and ice). 

[Mike8560]

If it'd s quick stitch while the cuudstomer is standing there I usualy give it free and they will proy come Ba l with a bigger job. I'd IRS a bit longer  but not an hour. I tell the. Illua e it later or later in the weekthen I usualy charge a. Hour anyway.

[Mojo]

I am not as busy as  most of you. I do have my busy times where I am booked solid but for the most part my jobs are evenly spaced out so I always have time for small jobs.

I am a sucker I guess as a lot of times I charge very little for quick small jobs. But it always seems to make me money in the long run because that customer walks out happy and tells his friends who come with bigger jobs.

98 % of my work is referrals. Goodwill normally comes back to me and makes me money.

Chris