INSIDE CASH-TIGHT GROWTH MENTORING
Price the Clean-Out From the Dumpsters
An example, not a client story.
In a clean-out, the number of skips (dumpsters) drives the cost, so it should set the price before the job starts. Ivanka Menken works this through with the Price-Cash-Confidence Chain inside Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, a 6-month 1:1 programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST. You are standing in a full house with a notebook, the quote has to go out tonight, and you do not know how many skips it will take. You write a price band by skip count, $4,000 to $8,000 in the example.
The Price-Cash-Confidence Chain is a tool inside the programme, not a separate product.
AN EXAMPLE CLEAN-OUT
Count the skips at the walk-through. Quote from the band.
- FEWER SKIPSthe bottom of the band$4,000
- MORE SKIPSthe top of the band$8,000
- THE QUOTEwith the skip count it assumesSame evening
THE RULE
“The skips set the cost, so they set the price.”
An example, not a client result. Your band will differ.
SOUND FAMILIAR?
The quote goes out before the skips are counted
- 01You quote a lump sum and find out on day two that you need another skip.
- 02You price by the hour, then absorb the extra trips yourself.
- 03Two similar jobs come out at very different prices with no reason you can explain.
THE QUOTE, AS IT GOES OUT TONIGHT
- Price: a lump sum, from memory
- Skips needed: a guess
- Cost of each skip: not on the quote
- Extra trip or extra day: paid by the business
- Margin on the job: found out afterwards
An example. The skips are a guess, and the margin pays for it.
THE EXAMPLE CASE
One walk-through, read three ways
An example, not a client story.
01
THE CLIENT AND THE MOMENT
A full month, less cash than a quiet one
The founder of a property clearance business runs two trucks and a crew of four. Quotes come from memory, and most jobs are won. Then the margin disappears into an extra skip and a second trip, and the busiest months are the ones that leave the least behind. The founder came for help when a full month of work left less cash than a quiet one.
02
WHAT THEY HAD TRIED
A buffer on every quote
The obvious fix was to add a buffer to every quote. On some jobs it covered the extra skip. On others it made the price look arbitrary, and the customer pushed back or went elsewhere. The buffer was a guess on top of a guess, so it could not be explained, and it could not be defended.
03
WHAT IVANKA NOTICED
The skip count was known, a day too late
Ivanka noticed the founder always knew the skip count within a day of finishing a job. The knowledge was there. It just never reached the quote, because the quote had already gone out the night of the walk-through.
THE DIAGNOSIS AND THE INSIGHT
The price came after the work
The price was being set after the work instead of from the thing that drives the cost. So the same job could be quoted at either end of the band, with nothing behind the difference.
The skip count is the most predictable number in a clean-out. It should set the price before the walk-through ends, not be discovered on day two.
When the skips set the cost, they should set the price.
THE COST OF STAYING STUCK
Keep quoting a lump sum and every extra skip, trip and day comes out of the margin. The busiest months thin it the most, because that is when the guesses are made fastest.
THE TOOL
The Price-Cash-Confidence Chain, from the cost driver
The Price-Cash-Confidence Chain starts where the money starts: the price. For a clean-out, Ivanka builds the price from the cost driver out: the skip count, what each skip costs, then what has to sit on top for the risk and the business.
An example clean-out. Tap a part. Your skips, costs and band are yours.
Price-Cash-Confidence Chain, from the cost driver · a framework by Ivanka Menken
What it is
It is the chain at the centre of Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, worked for one kind of job. It turns a finished job into a written band, so the next walk-through ends with a skip count and a price from the band.
What it replaces
It replaces the lump sum quoted from memory, the hourly rate that leaves the extra trips with you, and the buffer nobody can explain.
It sits inside Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring with the monthly Money-and-Clarity Scorecard, which shows gross margin per job. The pricing is worked through together and checked with your own adviser. No separate checkout.
THE CHAIN, ON ONE PAGE
- 01The skip count: how many, and what size, counted at the walk-through
- 02The cost of each skip: hire, tipping and the trip to empty it
- 03The labour around it: crew hours and days per skip
- 04What sits on top: the risk of one more skip, and what is left for the business
- 05The band: in the example, $4,000 to $8,000 by skip count
HOW IVANKA WORKED WITH THEM
Rebuild one finished job from the skips
In the example session, Ivanka takes one completed job and rebuilds its price from the skips: how many, what size, what each cost, what labour sat around them, and what was left for the business. She asks where the last three quotes went wrong, and which number the founder would have needed to see on the walk-through. The founder writes the band. Before the next session, the next quote goes out from it.
ONE FINISHED JOB, REBUILT
- Skips
- How many, and what size.
- Cost of each skip
- Hire, tipping and the trip to empty it.
- Labour around them
- Crew hours and days per skip.
- Left for the business
- What remained after the extra skip.
- The band
- $4,000 to $8,000
An example. Your skips and costs are yours.
THE FOUR-STEP LOOP
- 1The one thingOne finished job, and the quote it started from.
- 2The numbersThe skip count, the cost of each, the labour and what was left.
- 3The storyWhy a higher quote feels like it will lose the job.
- 4The commitmentThe written band by skip count, used on the next quote.
THE QUESTIONS
- How many skips did the last job take, and what size?
- What did each skip cost, with the trip to empty it?
- What labour sat around each one?
- Where did the last three quotes go wrong?
- Which number would you have needed on the walk-through?
Before the next session, the founder counts the skips on the next walk-through, quotes from the band the same evening, and records how many skips the job actually took.
WHAT CHANGED
Every quote starts from a skip count
By month 6, the walk-through ends with a number the price comes from.
NOW
- Quotes are lump sums from memory.
- Extra skips and trips come out of the margin.
- A buffer is added and cannot be explained.
- Margin per job is found out afterwards.
BY MONTH 6
- Every clean-out quote starts from a skip count and a written band.
- One new job has been quoted at the top of the band, with no discount.
- The extra skip is priced in, not paid by the business.
- The scorecard shows gross margin per job.
THE 12 FORTNIGHTS
- 1Call
- 2Call
- 3Call
- 4Call
- 5Call
- 6Month 3
- 7Call
- 8Call
- 9Call
- 10Call
- 11Call
- 12Month 6
The programme is the container: 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions, a monthly scorecard, and reviews at month 3 and month 6.
ILLUSTRATIVE RESULT
In the example, the founder writes a band from $4,000 to $8,000 by skip count, quotes from it at the walk-through, and stops paying for the extra skip out of margin. Illustrative, not a client result.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU
The next walk-through is a pricing decision
Ivanka Menken built Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring for founders of $500K to $3M businesses that are growing while cash tightens. She reads the numbers with you, asks the hard question, and holds you to the decision you write down.
If your price depends on a job you have not finished yet, the decision in front of you is which number drives the cost. Write the band from it before the next quote goes out.
“During our sessions Ivanka isn’t just talking theory. She is sharing her own lived experiences.”
Business owner
WHO IT IS FOR
It fits
- You run a $500K to $3M job-based business, such as clearance or removals.
- One cost, like skips, trucks or trips, drives most of each job.
- Your quotes are lump sums and the margin moves job to job.
- You will quote from a written band at the next walk-through.
It does not fit
- You want accounting or financial advice.
- You want someone to price your jobs for you.
- You want a done-for-you fix.
- Every job you do costs the same.
THE INVESTMENT
AUD $1,500
per month ex GST
6 months · 12 fortnightly sessions
It is part of Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, a 6-month 1:1 programme at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST, not sold separately.
- 12 fortnightly 60-minute sessions
- The monthly Money-and-Clarity Scorecard
- Reviews at month 3 and month 6
- The Price-Cash-Confidence Chain for each price decision
Three founding places in total, shared across all 1:1 mentoring, are available at AUD $1,000/month ex GST, in return for honest monthly feedback and a testimonial, which can be anonymous. Claim a founding place.
The Price-Cash-Confidence Chain is part of the programme. It is not sold separately.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
Questions about the Price-Cash-Confidence Chain
Why price by dumpsters rather than hours?
Because the skips (dumpsters) drive the cost, and they can be counted at the walk-through. Hours move with the crew and the day; the skip count is the most predictable number in the job. Ivanka Menken builds the band from it with you inside Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.
What if the job needs more dumpsters than quoted?
The band already carries the risk of one more skip, and the quote says which skip count it assumes. If the job goes past it, the price moves with it, in writing. Ivanka Menken helps you write that line in Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, a 1:1 programme that runs 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.
Does this work on smaller clean-outs?
Yes. A small job with one skip sits at the bottom of the band, and the same chain applies: count the skips, cost them, add what sits on top. Ivanka Menken works it through with you for your own jobs inside Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.
Will a fixed band scare customers off?
A band with a reason behind it is easier to accept than a lump sum with none. You can show the customer the skip count the price assumes. Ivanka Menken rehearses that conversation with you in Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring, and you check the pricing with your own adviser. The programme runs 6 months at AUD $1,500 per month ex GST.
Count the skips before the quote goes out
If your quotes are lump sums and the extra skip keeps coming out of your margin, start with Cash-Tight Growth Mentoring. The Price-Cash-Confidence Chain is inside it, and the 20-minute intro call is where you can see whether it fits.
Not accounting, financial advice or a done-for-you fix.