The 9% Contractor

What are you actually worth?

Thirty-four years in the trades built this. Put in your real numbers. It takes about sixty seconds, and nobody asks you for anything to see your answer.

Spin it to your number.

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Want the full breakdown - and a copy to keep?
The line-by-line math on your own numbers, a printable report you can hang in the shop, and my day-rate rules from thirty-four years in business. Free. Just tell me where to send it.

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Here's your whole picture. Check your inbox - the welcome letter is on its way.

Your numbers, line by line

Take it with you

Your printable report Your own numbers on one page, ready to print or save as a PDF.
The day-rate cheat sheet My half-day minimum rule, the flat day rate, the universal minimum, and the one mistake that double-bills a customer. One page. Download the cheat sheet →
The letters start The welcome letter lands in a few minutes. After that I send what I'm writing down as I write it.

What each margin does to you

Your margin is the whole ballgame once men are on the payroll. Here's the same take-home run at four different margins, so you can see what a few points is actually worth.

Gross sales required at each margin to reach the same take-home pay

The orange bar is where most trade contractors actually live.

MarginGross sales neededGross profitOverheadNet profitSell per month

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And here's the part nobody says out loud

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A margin isn't a trophy. A low margin means you carry twice the company to end up in the same place - twice the material to haul, twice the receivables to chase, twice the men, twice the risk, twice the nights you don't sleep. For the same money.

And here's the part nobody says out loud

Every hour you don't bill still costs you. The quoting, the driving, the parts runs, the paperwork - that time is real, and it comes out of the hours you can sell.

That's why the number above is higher than what you probably charge. It isn't figured on the hours you work. It's figured on the hours you can actually bill somebody for. Cut your billable hours and that number climbs, every time.

Still standing.
John

Yesterday's medicine is today's cure.

How the tax is figured. 2026 federal brackets and standard deduction, self-employment tax at 15.3% on 92.35% of net earnings (Social Security capped at the $184,500 wage base, Medicare uncapped, plus the 0.9% additional Medicare above the threshold), and the 20% Section 199A QBI deduction - construction is not a specified service trade, so it qualifies. Tennessee has no state income tax; if you're in a state that does, your number is worse than what you see here.

This is an estimate, not tax advice. Depreciation, equipment purchases, retirement contributions, health insurance, a spouse's income and your entity type all move this. Run your real numbers past your CPA.
The 9% Contractor
What Your Hour Has To Bill
Your own numbers, worked out -
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What you told me
What it works out to
The rules behind the numbers
Every job is half a day, minimum.Even a fifteen-minute repair. You geared up, picked up material, loaded tools, pulled the paperwork and found the pictures. The fifteen minutes isn't the job - the half day is the job.
Figure ten-hour days, not eight.The extra two are drive time, ice and fuel. A man billing eight-hour days is eating two hours a day he never gets back.
Never charge a day rate and per-item adders on the same job.The day already paid for everything the crew did that day. Charging both bills the same hours twice.
How this was figured. Your take-home target was grossed up for self-employment tax and 2026 federal income tax, with the 20% qualified business income deduction applied, then divided by your billable hours. This is an estimate and not tax advice - depreciation, equipment, retirement contributions, health insurance, a spouse's income and your entity type all move it. Run your real numbers past your CPA.
Still standing.
John
Yesterday's medicine is today's cure.
The 9% Contractor · yesterdaysmedicine.com/worth