Your customers pay for the job. They don't pay for the quote that won it, the invoice that followed it, or the three emails in between. That work still happens — usually after hours.
The invisible half of a job
Take one recent piece of work. Around the paid part, there was:
- Reading and understanding the enquiry
- Working out a price
- Writing and sending the quote
- Following up when they went quiet
- Answering questions before they committed
- Scheduling and confirming
- Ordering materials or preparing
- Travel
- Invoicing, and chasing payment
- Filing everything where it needs to go
None of that is billable. All of it is necessary. For a lot of small businesses it's roughly comparable in time to the job itself.
Why this matters for pricing: if you quote based on the hours of actual work, you're pricing at roughly half your real cost. Most owners know this instinctively and add a margin — but few have ever measured it, which means the margin is a guess.
Measure it once
For your next five jobs, track two numbers: paid hours, and unpaid hours around them. Rough is fine.
The ratio tells you two useful things: whether your prices reflect reality, and how much of your week is going to work nobody's paying for. Both are worth knowing, and most owners have never calculated either.
The three responses
1. Price it in
The obvious one. If a job carries two hours of unpaid work, your price needs to cover it. This is uncomfortable but it's just accuracy — you're not charging more, you're charging correctly.
2. Reduce it
Most of the unpaid work is writing and admin, and most of it repeats. Quotes are variations on previous quotes. Chasers are the same chaser. Confirmations are identical. Every one of those written from scratch is unpaid time spent unnecessarily.
This is the response with no downside — it doesn't require raising a price or having a difficult conversation, and it improves the return on every job at once. See speeding up quoting and the admin iceberg.
3. Do less of the work that carries most of it
Some job types carry far more unpaid overhead than others — lots of quoting for small values, or customers who need extensive hand-holding. Once you can see the ratio, you can choose differently. See busy isn't the same as profitable.
The unpaid work that's actually an investment
An important distinction. Following up a quote is unpaid, but it wins work. Contacting past customers is unpaid, but it generates jobs. Asking for a review is unpaid, but it brings enquiries.
That category shouldn't be minimised — it should be protected. The goal isn't less unpaid work overall; it's less of the pure-overhead kind so there's room for the kind that pays back. See what to do with recovered hours.
Where it usually ends up
In the evening. That's the real issue — unpaid work doesn't fit the working day, so it colonises the time that was meant to be yours. Reducing it isn't about efficiency for its own sake; it's about the difference between finishing at six and finishing at nine. See the Sunday night problem.
Unpaid work eating your evenings?
Reducing the overhead around each job improves every job at once. AskColin works with small businesses on exactly this — low-cost monthly support with one-to-one help whenever you need it. No jargon, no hard sell, and we'll tell you honestly if we can't help.
Have a free, no-obligation chatFrequently asked questions
How much unpaid work does a small business job carry?
Often roughly comparable to the job itself — reading the enquiry, pricing, writing and sending the quote, following up, answering questions, scheduling, preparing, travel, invoicing, chasing payment and filing. None billable, all necessary.
Am I underpricing if I quote on work hours?
Probably. If you price based on the hours of actual work, you're pricing at roughly half your real cost. Most owners add a margin instinctively, but few have measured the ratio — so the margin is a guess.
How do I reduce unpaid work?
Most of it is writing that repeats — quotes are variations on previous quotes, chasers are the same chaser, confirmations are identical. Writing each from scratch is unnecessary unpaid time, and fixing it improves the return on every job without raising a price.
Is all unpaid work bad?
No. Following up quotes, contacting past customers and asking for reviews are unpaid but generate work — that category should be protected, not minimised. The goal is less pure overhead so there's room for the unpaid work that pays back.