FREE WORKBOOK
Time and Labour Log
Log four honest weeks and find out where the hours really go, what your bench rate and your business rate actually are, and the gap between the two.
Because making is about half the week, so an hourly rate based on bench time alone is roughly double what your week really pays you.
Who this workbook is for
Profitable sellers who still have weeks where the money looks wrong, and cannot see why.
Two hourly rates, and they are very different
The bench rate is what you earn per hour of making, and it is the one product costing works in. The business rate is what you earn per hour of everything, and it is what your week actually pays you. On the sample, the bench rate is nearly twenty-six pounds and the business rate is thirteen, and the gap is the cost of running a shop rather than only making things.
It hands you a number for your costing
The non-making hours divided by what you finish in a week, at your own hourly rate, is an overhead per item. Put it straight into the costing calculator on top of your studio and tools, and your prices stop pretending those hours are free.
Four weeks, not forever
You do not need a permanent time sheet. Four honest weeks tells you the shape, and the shape is what you need. After that, revisit it when something changes. The answer is rarely to work longer, it is to put the other hours into the price and then look hard at which of them is buying you anything.
