How Trade Business Owners Can Finally Price Jobs for Profit (Without Guesswork)
“I Had No Idea How to Price My Jobs” - And That’s Where Most Tradies Start
Ask any contractor or trade business owner where they started when it came to pricing their work, and you’ll likely hear the same thing:
“I had no idea what I was doing. I just threw numbers around and hoped for the best.”
It’s the classic starting point. You launch your trade business with heaps of technical skill, pride in your workmanship, and maybe a few clients lined up. But when it comes to the business side - job pricing, quoting, cash flow, and margin management, it’s a baptism by fire. Most learn through costly trial and error.
You win some jobs, lose others, and then realise you’re busy… but not making money. And eventually, it hits you:
“If someone had just shown me how to price properly from day one, I could’ve avoided so much pain.”
Why Most Tradies Get Pricing Wrong
Job pricing isn’t a number you guess based on what the guy down the road is charging. It’s a business strategy, one that must account for overheads, profit margins, time efficiency, project risk, and long-term growth.
But the issue is, no one teaches this. It’s not part of your apprenticeship. It’s not included when you register your ABN. And Google can’t tailor advice to how your specific business runs.
So most tradies do what I did: figure it out the hard way. They underquote jobs, burn through savings, and dig into a financial hole before they realise something needs to change.
I Built the System I Wish I Had
Everything I teach today was built from my own experience as a trade business coach. The tools, templates, and pricing systems didn’t come from a boardroom - they were created on real sites, refined through real mistakes, and tested on actual jobs.
These systems now form the foundation of the Burdi Passport - a structured roadmap that helps trade business owners quote accurately, protect their margins, and finally make consistent profit.
And I don’t just hand it over and wish you luck. I sit with you, work through it with you. Whether you use my system as-is or we tweak it to suit your business, the outcome is the same: a clear, repeatable pricing strategy that works.
You Don’t Need to Learn the Hard Way
If you’re still guessing your numbers… still dreading quoting… or still unsure where all the money’s going at the end of the month -here’s what you need to know:
You don’t have to learn the hard way.
There’s a smarter way to price, a more confident way to quote, and a proven path to profit.
Kirk Neal - Trade Business Growth Coach
