Hi Ty, I think, and it is only a personnel view, the customer wants value for Money, they dont want to know what all our expenses and running costs are, they want to see the grass cut so they can sit in the garden and enjoy it, but not at a price THEY feel they are paying over the odds for, we use a registered french\english artisan for our customers, who due to the work we supply him with will make a profit on some of the work and a loss on some of the other jobs but in the end it all balances out,and if push comes to shove the client has a fully registered Carpenter and Joiner cutting there grass at alot lower rate than is normally charged, If I was to charge every customer a fixed price and included all the social charges, our building side of the business would never get any work, nor would the Gite management, I know we have a large umbrella and appreciate as to what you are saying, but sometimes you have to cut your cloth accordingly, as for our large umbrella it includes 2 amounts of social charges and the tva on materials ect but that is another debate. All the best in your new venture Tony