Great video Anthony, don't forget to add in what it costs to do job estimates and locate materials needed to perform the work, these things take time but don't always show themselves as a tangible expense, some may argue that "it's the cost of doing business", possibly but time is money.

As somebody who has been on the self employed welding adventure for the past 5 years I can say this breakdown is VERY accurate. The "metal in the eye" comment isn't a joke either. I've spent $300 at the eye doctor a couple times now after getting metal in my eye on a $200 job.

I do landscaping and dirt work and I use to think I made good money but man. Inflation is really hitting us hard the past couple years.

Every company I've worked for that had welding trucks and plumbing vans had a hourly rate then charged for fuel and consumables(non ppe) separately. We would fill out a work order that broke down the hours for each task, a materials Column, a consumables column and then a fuel charge box that showed the miles driven for the job and they added the welders fuel on top of that.

You have to open up a welding shop, let your customers come to you. Hire a few welders who work under your supervision. That's how you grow the business. That's how i did it anyway! Retired now in the Dutch Caribbean, watching sunsets, catching red snapper, and grilling out whenever i want.

I’m trying to start my llc soon mobile welding you are an inspiration I watch all your videos for guidance

Best breakdown of actual costs, no bs, that i've seen yet. Thanks

As always Anthony telling it like it really is. And only scratching the surface as mentioned below by many other fellow businesses owners. Everyone has to find solutions to make their business successful, but having this awareness of what Anthony is talking about is the keyl. And not going insane in the process 🤣

Thank MMA, bringing this kind of behind the scenes info is very helpful.

Great video on breaking that down. I haven’t welded in a few years or even on my own (but have always thought of breaking out on my own) the costs are easy to understand and I appreciate the smart ass comments 🤘🏻. I always enjoy watching your videos bro and the rig looks great.

Great informative video for aspiring welding entrepreneurs! I was happily surprised that you mentioned Medical costs ... I have had those as well and it costs a lot in medical billing as well as opportunity cost of lost time!... thanks for the valuable content! An honest and hard working man deserves success!

Really good explanation. I think people are quick to comment when anyone tells them hourly rate that wow thats high. They dont think about the factors you laid out.

this is exactly the kind of content missing for up and coming business men/women. once again Anthony is out here breaking down the reality of owning a business. absolutely love it. keep it up. thanks, looking forward to the next one

I am currently a welding student. Recently earned my AWS D1.1 All positions SMAW. I enjoy your videos and your insights of the business. You cover a lot of things some people don't think about before they attempt to open up a business. I'm hoping to find a shop job for few years and bank some money so I can buy my own Rig and get out there. Keep the videos rolling. I appreciate the time you spent on this.

Thanks Anthony just what I needed to hear!!

You numbers and estimates were right in line with what I estimate for costs. Consumables and fuel have started to suck!!!

You hit all the basics which i feel like is exactly what needed to be said in this video my man. Consumeables here in VA have gone out of sight forcing me to order most of them to only find out that now they're out of stock/cant get it or backordered sometimes after waiting a week... smdh! Gas Consumables here doubled in price- in November i paid 64$ to get my 75/25% mix filled and in March its now around 132$ for the SAME EXACT BOTTLE!!! Weld metal at the same shops also went up 40% or higher- 5lb box of 7018s were 45$ at the welding shops!!! Atleast i can shop around to the big box stores for that... And metal prices... smh.... try .70 lb for scrap cuts

I really appreciate this video! I have mentioned this a couple times in the comments awesome man! Thank you! 💯🤙🏼

Interesting to show people who don't realize what your cost is to do a job beyond the obvious materials. Great job!

Excellent video man! Thank you.

Great video - love your content 🇬🇧

That's a great breakdown. The number$ are a bit different but the percentages are around the same here, so it's very similar here.

Great presentation!

Great video Ant.... The costs add up, that's for sure brother. Like you say.... that's if all goes smooth and you don't hurt yourself, and need to take a few days off, or break a machine and lose revenue from being down. Thanks man

Nearly every small business owner fails to account for depreciation in real terms. Take the cost of your truck and divide that by expected life of the truck in years. Same with engine welder, etc etc. The reason people fail to do this is because these costs only come when the equipment gets replaced, so you hold the cash in the meantime. Then people borrow to replace equipment and pretend like those expenses don’t exist. Then we ask ourselves why most businesses fail in 5 years. P.S. repair is not depreciation, two different things.

Excellent video and break down. It’s scary how much you actually spend a day/week/month when you add it all up like that and totally agree hourly rate needs to go up when you look at it like that. Keep up the great work 👍👍

This is where adding in a fuel and supplies service charges for each customer comes into play by adding it in to hour rates on each job a service fee will add to helps u out to cover all fuel cost and supplies and if do more than 3 jobs a day that device charges would end up paying for all costs plus bumps pay up by a hundred dollars miniuns

Thank you Anthony for this Very pertinent video. Health insurance is a big one too. Everything goes up even higher when youre practice is in the most expensive city in the usa: New york city.

Hey “Tony”, great job on the break down. Who do you go through for insurance, I’d like to give them a call. $2200 a year is a steal. I’m a little higher than that. I’m presently at $120 (part time)an hour in RI. I still have all the overhead, but I maintain a full time position at a company as a welder also. Hood down, lights on.

Miller Digital Elite lasted me 5 years. Had to replace the computer board but it came with a three year warranty. So it cost me nothing to replace the boards. I have a miller digital elite 2.0 clear light with external grinding button now. It's the best helmet for welding I've purchased.

The speed glass has lasted me 10 year dropped it 9 floors and bounces off concrete still works like dream

Oh you betcha! Spot on sir.

Right on the money there. One man show makes a good living and that’s it. Your not gonna get rich but it’s better than working for some one else.

I had 5 service trucks on the road doing service/warranty work. they ran about 100g a year a piece to run.

Damn might have to look into those Hobart hoods. And here I was thinking about buying one of those Lincoln helmets

Raise them! Good video! Thanks

I would charge consumables on top of your price. Some jobs consumables can be quite expensive

The expenses on paper are just one thing that customers pay for. What they are really paying for is all the wasted material,consumables, and time that you spent screwing up learning your trade. Some went through formal training and that is an expense that many don’t think about when someone turns a bill in. Also being self employed there is an added expense which is your time spent on paperwork, checking your truck over doing inventory so you don’t drive 3 hours to a job just to remember you left 3 of your batteries in the shop at home and the one in your grinder is dead so you have put it on charge.

I bought a 3m g5-01 hood (very used from eBay) a few years back and the only issue I’ve ever had with it is the flip up hinges are getting slightly loose from drops

Great vid, Ty!

Smart move it adds up

You have a knack for illustrative art too I noticed - that might be a profitable side gig.

I charge $130. I do semi truck and trailer repair. sometimes it feels like it’s not enough

Great, great video Anthony! It really shines a light on how little $100 an hour is more than reasonable for the customer, (but you really need to raise your hourly rates!). Love your channel!

Excellent vidya ant

where i live before covid it was 300-400 to show up on site to start for any job plus 150 an hour after that

I'm 60$ an hour 2 hour minimum and poeple in my area think that's too much till they shop around.

I need to factor in metal in the eye into every quote lol

Very true but you can't forget the 600 a month welder payment plus the truck payment

Pretty good explanation. But you forgot to mention all of the non billable hours you spend doing the things that keep the business running. Like billing, driving around to do quotes, figuring out what materials you need to order....... Your time is important and you should count that as en expense

I'm wanting to start my own welding business and I'm kinda debating on what and how to do it. I'm thinking about starting on the side after I clock out from my welding day job and doing stuff on the weekend until I get a reputation built up and slowly adding different things over time. When I'm not driving around doing different gigs l, I kinda wanna do decorative stuff that I can sell and maybe add bbq's and other stuff over time.

Get yourself a white colored “Pipeliner” helmet by Fibre-Metal. It’s old school, but works. However they tend not to fit the pancake type filters underneath, so you’ll have to consider when using it when welding galvanized or painted surfaces. Some like the “rubber band” head gear, while others use the knob type adjustable. They both break with heavy use, but the rubber bad model is easier and quicker to replace. I know a guy that uses cut up bicycle inner tube for his “rubber bands.” He cuts them to size with scissors. With the Fibre-Metal helmet, you cut the top with an angle grinder so as to custom fit it at the top of your head when it’s in the up position and cut to fit the bottom (a little at a time, so it fits and doesn’t snack your sternum when you flip it down. I have one that’s lasted 10 years. They last forever. I just change the glass about once every two years but use a clear plastic shield in front of it, found at your LWS. Also, investing in a Pipeliner pancake helmet works the best in sunlight. It keeps all the sun light out from your eyes. The eye shield is made of balsa wood and needs to be fitted with a file for one’s face. They are worth every single penny. But the Fibre-metal Pipeliner is da bomb! GOOD STUFF!

Welding wire, not rods didn’t ask about them lately but wire Hobart xlr8 Lincoln’s all up 50 75% here.

I’ve learned to only use my expensive welding gloves for welding only, I use a pair of Tillman tig gloves for all my dirty work. I’ve had a pair of lamb skin Tillman stick gloves for about two years and they’re in fair condition. That’s all I know about gloves, lol.

Mobile work is the best, I do a 3 hour minimum and try to stack small jobs together. I might have 14 billable hours in one day in only 8 hours

Yeah, it's getting expensive for sure. I'm a mobile welder and fabricator in Australia and I charge 150 an hour. By the time I pay my tax, superannuation, consumables, maintenance and all the added costs, I get about 60 in my pocket. People very quick to assume that 150 is big rich money.

Yes a lot of people don't understand why you ask what you ask for. Some folks just think welding is some cheap hoshposh hot glue fix that should be darn near free. They don't consider everything that comes out of your pocket before you even strike an arc.

500 a day 6 days a week because when you own a business you work as much as you can, that's 3000 per week and comes to 12,000 per month profit after expenses and taxes, that is not bad at all, especially since most mobile welders work by themselves unless they have more than one truck and a sh..t load of work, but for a guy working by himself that isn't bad at all, and even if you took half of that and put it back into the business you are still making more money at 6 grand a month than most people make. Average medium wage at 15 per hour equals about 600 a week before taxes and you are making 1500 per week after all expenses and taxes and putting half your money back into things like advertising and stuff like that. So definitely nothing to complain about at all. it's nice to see someone come out with the truth of things for a change and explain that the money has to go somewhere and it's not all profit like I have seen other channels do. People bragging I made 30 thousand dollars this month just welding trailers and fences. Nothing said about expenses and Days off because of rain, or insurance cost or fuel, lucky I am a business owner and I already know all that stuff, but for someone that hardly knows anything about being in business that can be a huge trap and they can lose everything they work for by making a bad decision thinking it's going to a breeze to get started and it's going to make them rich. So thank you for putting the truth out there, for everyone to get a better understanding of what it actually takes to run a business like what you are doing.

In the Pacific Northwest we are at least $125 Realistically average is $185 an hour without a crane on the truck. With crane $225-$250.

Yes sir 💯 your a badass I love your videos

You’re still clearing 100k a year easy and that’s better then most normal jobs out here.

Did I miss the part where you factored in self-provided family coverage health insurance at $2000+/mo ($5-7hr, $50-84/day)?

Well ask Matt is always looking

how do you weight profit vs taking a profit loss to stay under other companies is that a good move or not as far as getting in the door the first call doing your services and then next call get your profits, i do handyman jobs llc insured i have some overhead the one thing i keep in my head is why arizona ice teas are still $1

Lots of fun being a mobile rig welder. Just started doing it and my transmissions going out(I don’t hotrod my shit) so now I’m having to fork over 3k for a new 5spd transmission. But I have the money now to go buy a back up truck. So now I’m in a dilemma… do I get the back up truck and fix my main rig truck in a couple weeks or just wait and fix the main rig now?

That's reality that I have never seen anyone else do on welding channels

Good video, I'm at $75 an hour labor plus materials, consumables, mileage, supplies W/5 hr minimum. If you're starting out and I understand but you're taking one or two hour jobs the math just won't work out you're losing.... $532.÷12= $44.33 hr. If you set a fixed labor rate now you're guaranteed that rate per hour. Another huge thing to consider if you're young that's one thing but this business takes a toll on your body so make it worth your while or don't do it.....

Look into 3m speedglass helmets, my buddy runs a manufacturing shop and that’s what he uses.

The welding hood shit made laugh.my first welding hood is as old as you I got that in 1985.and works just fine when I strike an arc.and that's in the ironworker world a lot tougher than putting bandaids on little boo-boos.

This is so true so fucking true Anthony you nailed it you went into detail

I don't think you charge too much. My boss charges people 125 an hour per person for field work with a 2 ½ hour minimum and Tig welding in the field is 130 an hour and we do the exact same thing you do. But most of the stuff we do is on a much bigger scale and the shop rate is 85 an hour and Tig is 90-95 an hour, hope this helps👍

Crazy. I’m not even big enough to charge 100 an hour since I’m still starting out on my own, but this definitely helped me get an idea on it. I charge 70/hr but I don’t do taxes or nothing since it’s on the side. Thanks for this info, definitely helped a bunch

I charge 200-240 in cali

welding buddy are nice. i fix there trucks and they pay me back with stuff i need welded or custom made.

On a check your supposed to write out $500.00 so it looks like $Five Hundred Dollars and zero cents. (Not verbal) But you get the point what difference does it make when youve seen welders pay versus regular pay...it's drastically different

4:03 gotta love him lmao!

Yep, welding is underrated on all levels. It’s hard work and nobody wants to pay what it’s worth, wether independent or working for someone else. Every thing from welding equipment to material has gone up in price, wages should reflect this.

If you get a modern eurepean craftsman buses instead you will save A LOT of fuel. Something like a crafter, sprinter, Iveco daily etc.

There is a lot of overhead. I would be charging 145.00 a hour. Same as Mobile truck service. Also I would be charging 2.50 a mile to and from the temporary 1 day work location. Add in you consumables. Cutting gas and 25.00 shop supplies. If you bid a large job your going to have to factor in fuel.

Saludos desde Guadalajara Jalisco Mexico Antonio

Your awsome.

i had a computer repair business back in early 2000.. just me.. i figured everything you mentioned out then.. to make 30 grand take home paid you would have to gross 60,000+ on home pc repair.. tax rate has been reduced some for individually business from early 2000's was 45%ish in them.. no way to make that cash on homepc repair..no printer repair .. pc repair.. closed business went to work for someone else and i bring home 30 grand.. lots of people moving to no federal tax states.. tennessee and florida being biggest..

What do you do for health insurance

How much for service call to get to job?? Langford welding?

Yo in my country 500 per day is like a month's pay for most people

What about big truck you going to be using it or sale ?

That's a pretty good run down Anthony ! We are at 150.00 an hour for the same style truck and some days wonder if that's enough ? Today the 100 dollar bill is the new 50 bill with inflation . At 1:56 I still like the old school flip shield helmet . Never could get used to the auto dark as what few times I've used one it worked great for welding but would try to darken while using a grinder . Keep up the good work !

So here in canada I price in fuel and consumables with 20%mark up and charging 90 an hr just for my time and wear and tear

Welding is generally what about 20% of your time, prepping , gathering, free estimating. grinding ,cutting

Boy, did you hit nail on the head! I usually add up all material including gas,+10% tax. Then, charge anywhere from 1.5 to 2% plus material for labor!

For a lot of guys they "also weld," in the sense that, to scratch out a living you have to do so much more than just welding. It ends up being only one of the many skills you need to be useful enough to get paid as an employee. But running your own welding business, that's crip.

I charge 120 an hour here in the keys plus consumables. I will say most people here have not had a problem but 20 percent like to tell me how they could do it if they had a welder and that's to much blah blah. I have learned that if i say a price and it seems to be a problem just walk away. I do charge consumables separate so gas rod argon all that I charge on a per job basis. I was charging 100 hr but my business insurance went up and demand went up so I raised the price to try to curve the situation. They are saying diesel might hit 10 bucks by the end of this year which is insane. So many more things people don't take into account belt sander, grinders (they burn up fast), torches, tools in general like pipe rollers or new bender dies it is insane but I will have to say I am a little concerned with the way prices are going and how that will affect my price per job and the customers reaction to that price in the future

And the knowledge ????? Years of experience???? Not only the equipment! You need to put that important plus ! A1 thing you need to solve any problem ! To offer a quality job !

Great video, I noticed you didn't run the Miller respirator very long. Did you like the fit of the 3m better?

I was like hell yeah then it started 3k truck repair and 12 hours work. LOL

I’m a welder fabricator but own a pressure washing business too… I love welding but for whatever reason it doesn’t pay what it should. I get $200 an hour with a $15,000 pressure washing rig and I could teach someone how to do 90% of what I do in a weekend. It takes years to become a good welder and fabricator!

you need a huntsman slider 490p hood! I have one thats 24 years old! lightest hood there is, there is none lighter!

A mobile welder friend of mine has a $150 minimum and that's after the $250 he charges just to start his truck so, really $400 minimum per job. He's in on Long Island, NY.

Forgot about training and school price

by your math that’s 500+ a day. most would be lucky to make half that in a day working 8 hrs at a job they can’t stand. that’s more than 15k profit a month. obviously there are a lot of hidden costs not mentioned, and then there’s the fact that that’s based off of 7 days a week for 12 hrs a day, while i’m sure you’re a hard worker, it’s probably safe to say, you like to enjoy your time off. there’s so much more that goes into running a business that it would take much longer than 10 min to really break it down and explain it all. so i hope people don’t look at this and think, dang 532 a day in profit? that’s amazing! there’s so much more to it.