Step 2 of 10
Your rates
Balloons are about 10% of what a job costs you. Build labor is 30%. Travel, install and strike are the other 60%. Start with the numbers that price your time and your truck.
Your work
Two decorators in the same town don't sell at the same price. Consistency, color blocking and how the install holds up all day are what move you up your market's range. Be honest here — this only shifts the benchmarks we compare you against, and pricing a beginner like an expert is the fastest way to lose the booking.
Repeatable, tidy work. Clean lines, no gaps, holds up all day. This is where most working decorators sit.
Skill cuts both ways
Newer builders sell for less and take longer per foot — a double squeeze on margin. At your level a garland takes roughly 100% of a competent decorator's build time, so check the minutes per 12 ft on the tier table against your own timed installs. Speed is the fastest raise available to you.Labor rates
Owner rates are typically $60+/hr — you are the skilled builder and the business risk. Employee rates sit slightly above your local minimum wage. Every labour number in this tool — build time, fixed setup, teardown and item handling — is costed at every person on the job added together.
Every mile you drive costs you $1.39
Vehicle cost plus crew time behind the wheel. A 12-mile job with a strike trip is 48 miles driven — $67 of cost before a single balloon is inflated.