My welding partner and I have been working together for six years and we're both good at what we do, but lately when we bid jobs I can tell he's padding the estimates because he's worried about his retirement and I've been going along with it even though I know we're pricing ourselves out of work. We haven't talked about money honestly in months and I can feel us both pretending this is sustainable when we're watching contracts go to younger shops with lower overhead.
More people experience this than they realize.
Your partner keeps padding bids out of money worries, and it's pricing you out of work.
“Where Are You with Trades — Welding & Metal Fabrication?”
If this sounds familiar, the Library can help you find the bigger picture.