Hit 1000 hours on my first side job and it changed how I see the trade

I picked up a small residential side gig 8 months ago, just helping an old buddy wire his basement remodel. I was tracking hours on a notepad because I figured it would be maybe 40 hours total. Last Tuesday I added up all the time I put in and realized I crossed 1000 hours on that one job. That number hit me hard because I always thought of myself as just helping out, not actually running a real project. What convinced me to treat it serious was seeing the total labor cost I should have charged versus what I collected. I was basically working for peanuts and didn't even notice. Has anyone else lost track of time on a side job and realized later you undersold yourself?

2 comments

2 Comments

ray_webb624d agoTop Commenter

My buddy Mike spent almost two years helping his brother-in-law build a deck and a small shed. He kept a rough log in a spiral notebook but never really added it up until his wife asked what he was getting out of it. Turned out he put in around 700 hours and charged barely enough to cover materials and a couple pizzas. The thing is, he didn't think of it as work because it was family, but when he finally looked at the numbers, he realized he could have bought a decent used truck with the money he left on the table. It's real easy to fall into that trap when you're just trying to be a good friend or relative.

jakewhite24d agoMost Upvoted

Are you sure it's really that big of a deal though? I mean 1000 hours spread out over 8 months is like 30 hours a month, that's not exactly a full time gig... it's easy to lose track of time when you're just helping a buddy out, especially if you're not keeping a strict log from day one. And the whole labor cost thing, yeah you probably could have charged more, but did you really lose money if the guy is your friend and you were just doing him a solid? Seems like you're overthinking a hobby project that got a little out of hand.