According to our audits, 60% of construction tradespeople do not know their real margin. They confuse gross and net margin, forget to factor in the cost of their own time, and underestimate fixed costs. Here is our 4-step method. Step 1 — Calculate your real hourly cost: take your annual fixed costs (rent, insurance, vehicle, accountant, phone, software), add your target pay and social charges, then divide by the number of truly productive hours (note: out of a theoretical 1,820h, a tradesperson averages 1,200). Step 2 — Include hidden costs: travel, time spent quoting, after-sales service, admin time, unpaid invoices (allow 3 to 5%). Step 3 — Apply a margin coefficient: for a healthy business, aim for a coefficient of 1.5 to 1.8 on your materials + labour costs. Below 1.3, you are working at a loss without knowing it. Step 4 — Track project by project: a simple Excel spreadsheet is enough. Compare forecast vs actual for every job and adjust your quotes accordingly. Our clients who apply this method increase their net margin by 8 to 15 points on average.