The practice run

Do the job once, for a real person, before you charge anyone full price.

Free or cheap, for a neighbour, a friend, someone at church. Not for your own household — it has to be someone who will tell you the truth and whose job you cannot leave half-finished.

Why this comes before pricing

You cannot price a job you have never done. Everyone guesses low. You think the cleaning takes two hours; it takes four and you used twice the supplies. If you had set your price first, you would have locked yourself into working for six dollars an hour and you would not have found out for a month.

Do it once, with a clock running, and then set the price from what actually happened.

Before you go

• Bring your own equipment. Never plan to borrow the customer's — it looks unprepared and if it breaks, it is yours to replace.
• Be clean and look the part. You do not need a uniform; you need to not look like you came from another job.
• Agree out loud what you are doing before you start. "I am doing the kitchen, both bathrooms, and vacuuming. Not the windows." Say it, so there is no argument later.
• Tell them plainly it is a practice run and you want honest feedback. That sets you free to ask for it afterward.

While you work

Time yourself. Start to finish, including setup and cleanup. Write the number down that day, not later from memory.

Write down what you used. Every bag, every bottle, every part, and the gas to get there.

Notice what went wrong. The thing you forgot. The step that took three times as long as expected. That is your real cost.

Before you leave

Two things, and you have to ask for both out loud:

1. A photo. Of the work, not of you. Ask permission. "Do you mind if I take a picture of the finished kitchen? I am putting together a flyer." Almost nobody says no.
2. One honest sentence. "If someone asked you whether to hire me, what would you tell them?" Write down exactly what they say. That sentence goes on your site — and it has to be theirs, word for word. Never write one for them.

Then ask the hard one: "What should I have done differently?" Stay quiet through the whole answer. Do not explain. This is the most valuable minute of the whole job.

In the portal

Tell the coach how long it really took, what you used, and what they said. That is what turns into your price and your first bit of proof.

To reach this milestone

• I did the job once, start to finish, for a real person who is not in my household.
• I timed it and wrote down how long it actually took.
• I wrote down every supply I used and what it cost.
• I got a photo of the finished work.
• I asked what I should have done differently and wrote down their honest answer.