how to price a job you haven't done before

Someone asks you to do something you have never quoted. Maybe it is a basement finishing and you have only done main-floor renovations. Maybe a client wants polished concrete floors and you have always laid tile. The job is within your skill set — just outside your experience.

You have two options. Say no and watch the work go to someone else. Or figure out what it actually costs, price it honestly, and add a new service to your business. This guide is about option two.

step one: get real material numbers

Do not Google "average cost of polished concrete per square foot" and use that. Those numbers are stale, vague, and usually wrong. Instead, pick up the phone.

Call two or three suppliers. Tell them what you need. Get actual quotes for the actual materials on the actual job. A supplier quote in writing is a Certain tier line item. A number you pulled from a blog post is a Wild Guess. That difference matters when you run the simulation.

Ask suppliers about lead times too. A specialist product that takes six weeks to arrive changes your programme and your costs. In Canada, shipping times to remote areas can add even more lead time — factor that in.

step two: talk to someone who has done it

You know other tradespeople. Ask one who has done this type of work before. Not for their exact prices — just for the things you do not know to ask about. Hidden costs. Common problems. Things that catch first-timers out.

A twenty-minute conversation can save you thousands. Most tradespeople will help if you ask honestly. "I have not done one of these before, what should I watch out for?" goes a long way.

step three: be honest about your uncertainty

This is where most people go wrong. They have never done the job before but they mark every line item as Low uncertainty because they do not want to face the real numbers.

If you have not done this work before, most of your line items are High or Wild Guess. That is not a problem. That is just reality. The tool is designed to handle it — it will widen the range and give you a quote that accounts for the unknowns.

The only person you hurt by lying about uncertainty is yourself. Mark things honestly and let the maths do the work.

step four: build in learning time

You will be slower on the first one. That is normal. A tiler doing their first polished concrete job will take longer than someone who has done fifty. Price your labour accordingly.

Add 20-30% more time than you think a seasoned pro would take. Put it in as a separate line item — "additional labour (first project of this type)" — so you can see exactly what the learning tax costs you. On the next job, you will drop that line entirely.

when to walk away

Sometimes the honest answer is: this is not the right job to learn on. Walk away if:

• The client wants a fixed price and will not accept any variation.
• The job is high-value and you cannot afford to get it wrong.
• You cannot find a single person to ask for advice.
• The simulation output shows a massive spread between P50 and P95 — that means your uncertainty is so high that no reasonable quote will protect you.

There is no shame in saying "this is not my area." Refer it to someone who does it regularly. They might return the favour when something in your wheelhouse comes up.

worked example: quoting your first basement framing job

You are a general contractor. A client wants their unfinished basement framed, insulated, drywalled, and painted. You have done plenty of main-floor work but never framed a basement. Here is how you might price it:

Notice the split. The materials are low-risk because you got real prices. The drywall labour is low-risk because it is your core skill. But the framing labour is High because you have never done it. That honesty is what makes the quote safe.

Base estimate: $4,500. After simulation, your P80 might come in around $5,050. That extra $550 is not padding — it is the cost of doing something new, calculated properly.