I see your point, but can anyone really turn a profit at $68? I think that a lot of folks look at the hard costs - the paper, the toner, the mileage and maintenance on the car, the gas - and overlook what their time is worth. If you take the fee and deduct what you estimate your hard costs are, you get the potential profit. Obviously, if that figure is negative it's a no-brainer - you're going to lose money.
But if there's still some meat on the bone, you have to consider time. Time spent taking the call and negotiating the price. Time spent downloading and printing the docs. Time spent traveling to and from the signing location. Time spent AT the signing location. Time spent on the phone with the SS or Title with questions. Time spent preparing the docs for shipment. Time spent to and from the shipping location. It all adds up. Take the same approach that lawyers take - the clock starts running as soon as they start talking to or doing anything for their client.
Here's an experiment - use a stopwatch to time and record every aspect of an assignment, from the first call to dropping the docs and returning home. Add in the time it takes making calls or texting or emailing to try and collect from the deadbeats. That's the total time you spent earning your fee.
Divide the fee you were promised by the time you spent earning that fee. That right there is what your time was worth to the person who hired you.
That doesn't include your other costs, just your time. If it's below the Federal minimum hourly wage of $7.25, you're probably better off either sitting on the couch binging Netflix or trying to get a job at McDonald's. |
