Quote:
Originally posted by agla
Here is the question:
Do you want to follow this business model because you do not believe you can manage your own help to get the work done?
|
No, I believe that I could manage my own crews to do the work, if I had to do so. It's just that I want to keep things simple and focus my efforts on a few things (sales, marketing, and design). And, to be honest with you, I'd like to avoid the expense, debt, and maintenance hassles of owning the equipment that is necessary to do the work.
Maybe it sounds like I'm trying to take the easy way out, but I'm willing to work hard at this, and spend long hours at it, and I don't mind getting my hands dirty doing the work. In fact, if I could just do installations and avoid having to bother with sales, marketing, and design, I could be just as happy doing things that way. But it seems as though I need to take one route or the other. If I try to do everything, nothing will get done right. I have no problem finding qualified and dependable installers and so why not use them and focus my efforts elsewhere?
Quote:
|
Now, if you don't want the client to know that you are not doing the work, it tells me that you are not working as the client's agent. That is a mistake on your part because that is where the value of paying you extra is for the client. If you can do that it will work. If you want to run a landscape contracting business using other companies to do the work, it won't.
|
I appreciate your blunt criticism and welcome more of it. I'm unsure as to how to approach this with the customers and that's why I'm here asking questions. Should I represent myself as someone offering design and project management services, or should I represent myself as a landscaping contractor? I have done it both ways, and ended up with satisfied customers and a profit in each case. In one case, I had a freelance designer make a design for the customer, then I got bids from three hardscaping companies and selected one to do the work who added a commission into the job for me. Both the designer and the hardscaper contracted directly with the client on that job. In some cases, I have contracted with the client and subbed out all of the work. And in a job I'm working on now, I did the initial design work, contracted the job with the customer and will do the planting while subbing out the hardscaping.
Maybe I can be flexible and continue to do things in a variety of ways, depending on the situation. But I'd prefer to sub out all of the work and focus on marketing/sales/design, if I can do so.