Treestyle,
It appears on the surface that what you are charging is OK for "man hours". It doesn't include machinery etc.
Let me tell you a story and then think about what things are worth.
Quote:
A couple of well to do middle aged Aussie women are holidaying in France. They are having a latte' al fresco when they notice a few tables away Picasso quietly having a coffee.
As a memorial to their trip they decide to ask Picasso to autograph a table napkin with lipstick (all they had). So one of the women approaches and asks the famous Picasso to which he happily obliges.
As he finishes he turns to the woman and says, "that will be $50,000 thankyou."
To which the woman replied, "$50,000 dollars, but it only took you a few moments!"
To which Picasso replied, "no my dear, it took me a lifetime."
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The moral of the story is, is it the same to climb a 10' foot tree in the middle of a yard as it is to climb a 100' tree above some-ones roof?
Are you devaluing your own worth with an hourly rate or would you be better pricing perspective? By perspective I mean the way most others would see it.
Our skill is acquired over time and at great risk, the risk varies according to the task at hand, be wise, charge accordingly.
I know with pruning there's very few people I trust, very few. You have seen by the busts I have put up what the client gets when they look at money and rates.
Try to shift the focus onto what the worth is of what you do, how many others are capable of doing it properly.
If I know how to save a valuable tree and it takes me 15 minutes to administer the dose does that make me worth less than an idiot who roots around with it for days?