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The Tradesheet blog

Straight-talking guides on pricing, quoting and running jobs that actually make money — from a working UK contractor.

Price a job to profit

How to price a job so you actually make money

Most trades quote off gut feel and hope. Here's how to price a job so the profit is built in from the start — not left to chance.

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5 quoting mistakes

5 quoting mistakes that quietly cost trades thousands

None of these feel like much on a single job. Add them up across a year and they're the difference between a good year and a hard one.

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Spot losses early

How to know a job's losing money before it's too late

The final account is the worst possible time to find out a job lost money — because by then you can't do a thing about it. Here's how to catch it while you still can.

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Stop free variations

Variations: how to stop giving work away for free

"Can you just..." is the most expensive phrase on site. Here's how to make sure every extra gets priced, agreed and paid for.

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