Hello, everyone.

This is Enta.

Lately, I've been getting a lot of work referrals from my main client, but it's actually kind of a hassle, lol.

The reason is that work gets passed on to us because the general contractor’s supervisor isn’t there, but most of these are small jobs.

The work gets passed down to us subcontractors because it’s said to be more expensive when major contractors handle it.

 

It's true that, unlike major companies, their expense ratio is different.

But when the job site is small, the unit price inevitably skyrockets lol.

And this is especially true for spiral-wound installations.

 

In cases like this, it’s difficult to use the standard unit rate, so we calculate the cost by multiplying the number of workdays by the number of workers and then by the standard unit rate (25,000 yen).

For example, if there is a 100 m² × 10 cm layer of sprayed mortar,

The actual installation takes one day, but including preparation and cleanup, it takes about two days.

2 days × 4 people × 25,000 yen = 200,000 yen

200,000 yen ÷ 100 m² = 2,000 yen/m²

These are the labor costs.

Machinery costs are added here.

Item	Unit	Quantity	Construction Losses	Unit Price	Amount
Spray Machine	台	1.0	1.0	12,000	12,000
Compressor	台	1.0	1.0	6,000	6,000
Generator	台	1.0	1.0	5,000	5,000
Belcon	台	1.0	2.0	3,000	6,000
Fuel	L	180.0	1.0	120	21,600
Suipon	台	1.0	1.0	800	800
High-Pressure Washer	台	1.0	1.0	3,000	3,000
Water Tank	台	1.0	1.0	1,000	1,000
Total					55,400

55,400 yen ÷ 100 m² = 554 yen/day

2,000 yen + 554 yen = 2,554 yen ≈ 2,560 yen/m²

This is the minimum cost.

That's where we'll add the profit.

If this 100 m² requires two round trips, it will take 1.5 days × 2, so the cost will be even higher.

If we keep piling things up like this, the unit price will keep going way beyond the market price, so it’ll get harder to sell them lol.

This is what caused the problem, huh? lol

 

By the way, branch operators generally mark up their prices by around 11%.

I think the general target is around 15% gross profit.

It may seem like a lot, but I guess there’s nothing we can do about it—the major branch operators’ selling, general, and administrative expenses and overhead costs are just astronomical.

And at large companies, there are always operations that have to be run even if they’re operating at a loss.

In that sense, too, major companies have their own costs to cover, so everything is on a completely different scale compared to us subcontractors.

That said, even though the scale is different, the way we count money is the same.

As described above, we calculate the construction costs and refine the figures.

To put it bluntly, even a 100-million-yen construction project isn't such a big deal if you drop two zeros and think of it as 1 million yen.

If you change your perspective a little when counting money, you can easily calculate even large amounts.

 

Man, though—it’s really hard to justify it when the cost goes over the design unit price...

I can't really say anything other than "sorry," but since these are costs we have to pay, there's nothing we can do about it, huh? lol

 

See you later.