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So it still sounds to me like you actually want to be a GC, not just a designer. Ootherwise, once the pencil or puck is set down, you'd be washing your hands of the plan.
There are many GC's in my area whose only tool is a cellphone. Don't need trucks and power tools to be a GC.
That you're an avid gardener helps - I was concerned that you didn't know Coleus from Quercus, and your clients would pay the ultimate price.
As for how to charge and how much to charge, some of your instincts are already there - you're doing a lot of work, possibly for nothing, when designing on spec. However, given your very small portfolio of work, you might just have to suck that up for awhile until you've built a portfolio and reputation.
I'm sure Frank Lloyd Wright couldn't charge top dollar straight out of college - he built a reputation over time.
So the trick for now will be for you to determine when you've got the client hooked and should begin charging for your work. Maybe after presentation of the first design when they ask for revisions. Maybe you don't turn the plan over until they pay for it, getting them committed to you, which would hopefully mean they opt in for the actual construction.
As for how much to charge - I always like telling folks to work backwards. Start at where you want to end up and go back from there. You want to make $X. Figure out your costs ($Y). Then figure out what margins you need on a reasonable volume of work so that Volume of Work - COGS - Y = X. Simple formula, and a hundred different ways to get there.
Good luck.
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