This is my view also when you go vat you have to be flying over he threshold not just knocking on the door of it,I think some go vat just so they can say I'm vat registered mate lol. Honestly if your doing near on that amount not being registered how much more do you need to earn to make the hassle worth it,I've looked into it and I reckoned you'd need to earn the same again to make it anywhere near worthwhile. When you go VAT window cleaning then becomes a proper job lol
I find it hard to believe that anyone would go VAT registered just to say they are - to boast in other words. It's a pain the backside to be honest but if you want multiple vans and also want to employ and pay a decent wage you have no choice. Hence trying to get more commercial work.
Regarding "knocking at the door", it's worked out ok here because I went limited at the beginning of the year and that set the VAT clock to zero giving me plenty of time to be trading well above the threshold month by month but not yet hitting the figure since the start of the business.
In my case, I'm 52 and have no pension and want to build a sizeable business to sustain me as I get older. Being self employed is great, but you don't want to get ill or you're stuffed.
Anyway, back on topic, I'm grateful for the feedback re: pricing. I reckon I overpriced that one by about £70 or so. Deep down I knew the correct figure was £250 but decided to say a day's work for one man and price it at about that.