How Much Does a Mistake Cost?

I learned a pretty important thing last week on-site at a job. When you're in business for yourself and you make your living designing, crafting, or doing other custom creative work, sometimes you learn things the expensive way. And sometimes you can recoup from it if you know what you're dealing with in terms of still coming out on the profitable side - or maybe just knowing when and where to cut your losses. 

So last week my boss and I went to fix a customer's window treatments that had sporadically grown 1/8" to 2/8" of an inch (fabric does some weird things depending on the weaving structure of it; when fabric grows it literally gets longer because it eases as it hangs). It took us 2 hours to undo previous work and fix it. And I'm sure I learned this stuff the 3rd time I took accounting or micro-economics or whatever that soul-sucking, money-vacuuming, major-questioning class was back in '07, but it really wasn't on the  this-will-one-day-be-relevant-radar.

How many times did you make a thing only to realize something's on backwards and you have to take the seam ripper to it? Or maybe you ate yourBaconator a little too close to that sateen gown and now there's a big fat grease stain on it. Did you just cringe? And get a little hungry? Oh yeah. #memories

Mistakes: How much do they cost? Hint: it's threefold; ouch! https://t.co/Y36skrRuwC #SmallBusiness #sewing #custom pic.twitter.com/QYoqp9ueMe

— Lidz (@sexyDEATHparty) November 26, 2015

Let's break down the threefold cost associated with a mistake:

1. THE INITIAL COST
   • This is the cost associated with what the client initially gets charged for. For you it would includes cost of materials + labor + overhead + profit. (Thaaaaank you Mr. Marcus Lemonis!)
2. THE FIX-IT COST
   • If something goes wonky either during the construction process or after the construction is finished, chances are you have to fix it. 
   • Reasons for fixing something include
     
     • visible errors,
       
     • additional tailoring (some fabrics stretch and some shrink, knowing what to anticipate can save time and $),
       
     • something breaks or doesn't hold up to wear,
       
     • damaged in transit
       
     • etc.? The unicorns were so taken with it they had to mark their territory? 
       
   • Sometimes this can include additional shipping & handling fees that you will likely have to eat if you're concerned with customer service.
   • Depending on the industry, charging the client for additional labor due to the above errors is accepted. This is a shady area I don't know much about. If there are additional materials then that should definitely incur an extra charge.  It depends. Ask what others in your industry do and take the best advice. 
3. THE OPPORTUNITY COST
   • This is the money lost because you could have been using your time for another profitable job.

Damn. That's a lot of loss for a mistake. But if it happens, what else can you do? ​