what to do when you underquote a job
Underquoted a Job? Here's How to Handle It Professionally
You're three days into a job priced for two, the materials cost more than you guessed, and you're now working for nothing. Every tradesman does this - usually a few times before it stops. The panic is normal. The worst thing you can do is silently eat the loss or down tools mid-job without a word. There's a professional middle path, and how you handle it decides whether you walk away skint or just bruised.
First, work out where you actually stand
Before you say anything to the client, get cold and honest with the numbers. Knowing what to do when you underquote a job starts with knowing the size of the hole.
- What did you quote, and what's the real cost now - labour hours and materials?
- Was it your error (missed a step, guessed the price) or a genuine change in scope by the client?
- How far in are you? A loss on day one is different from a loss with one day left.
If it's your mistake on a fixed-price quote
Honour it. A quote is a quote - going back on it for your own error wrecks trust and your reputation travels fast. Take the hit, finish strong, and bank the lesson. The relationship and the review are worth more than the shortfall on one job.
If the scope genuinely changed
That's different - that's a variation, and you're entitled to charge for it. Stop, flag it, and quote the extra before you do the work.
The variation formula that saves the next one
When extra work appears mid-job, price it on the spot with a simple, repeatable sum. No guessing under pressure.
The 15% on materials covers your sourcing time and trade margin. The 10% contingency is the buffer you forgot last time. Send it written, get a yes, then carry on.
Where new tradies get this wrong
- Going silent and resenting the job. The client has no idea you're losing money, so they can't help. Bottled-up resentment shows in your work and the relationship sours anyway.
- Trying to claw it back by skimping. Cutting corners to recover a loss turns a money problem into a callback problem. Never compromise the work to fix a pricing error.
- Not recording what went wrong. If you don't log why this job lost money, you'll quote the exact same one next month at the exact same price.
Stop history repeating itself
The real fix isn't on this job - it's on the next one. With Quotato, every job's costing data is saved, so when a similar job lands you can see what it actually took versus what you charged. That bathroom that ran two days over? Next time the numbers are right there to learn from, not buried in a notebook you've lost.
Underquoting once is a lesson. Underquoting the same job twice is a habit - and it's the data, not your memory, that breaks it.
Take this one on the chin, fix the process, and price the next one like a pro.
Quote off real job-costing data, not guesswork.
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