[Belisarius]

Hello everyone-

I happened across this forum while looking for ideas to help me with my brand-new business and let me say it's a real God-send! I joined right away and thought I would like to end my first day of browsing by asking you pro's a question....
I have recently begun a free-lance design business and was wondering whether that was a really viable idea or will I probably need to get into the install aspect as well to make a decent living? Is there a good market out there for small to medium sized companies who can't afford full-time designers and what would be the best way to approach them? Cold calls over the phone or in person, direct mail, e-mail, other?
And I would appreciate any feedback on my site and pricing.
I am just getting started after being laid off during the slow season and, as the sole provider in my family, I certainly don't want to lose a lot of time doing things poorly
Here is my site: www.signaturelandscapes.net/offer.html

Thank you in advance for any feedback and God bless!
David

[Stonehenge]

Belisarius,

Welcome to the site - there are lots of really smart people here who have just about seen and done everything that can be done in this industry. So you're in a great place to gain knowledge.

To the question at hand, I think the viability of it will depend a lot on the size of your market. In my neck of the woods the design-only firms don't have much of a chance because there just isn't a market for it, and the market doesn't seem to appreciate the value of a good design here as much as other more metropolitan places would.

I'd been approached by one such person, in a similar situation to yours. I bring it up because there were red flags for me; if you can figure out how to address these red flags in advance for your potential partners, you might be a long way down the road to success.

My first thoughts when approached were that the person might actually be more interested in learning the pricing structure for our business, and roping us in on a fictitious design/bid might give them the information they want. Along the same lines, I wonder how the pricing process would work for this scenario. I would want to be able to approve bids, but would prefer to generate the bids myself. Either way, I'd be concerned that the design/bid process would be substantially elongated with the back and forth of paperwork, potentially costing us the sale.

If you can work out those issues, I'd be a person more inclined to give that relationship a try.

Good luck in your venture, and kudos for having the guts to put it all on the line.

[Lanelle]

Welcome David! Glad that you've found us. First off, your web site and the information that you have included is very professional in both appearance and content. Do you ever intend to work directly for a homeowner or only for landscape installation companies?
I don't know your market so I certainly can't comment on your rates from that standpoint. But I am curious about how long does it take to do all of the elements that you include in your various packages? Or to put it another way, how many of these can you do a day vs. how much money does it take to support your family each month?
At a glance, I think that you are providing a GREAT product with lots of detail at a rather low price, but you will have to do the math to see if you can make money fast enough with your current price structure. Also, the vague designation of a 'small or normal size lot' leaves a lot of room for disagreement.
Another issue---are you designing hardscapes? That is where much of the money is made nowadays but I didn't see any mention of patios,decks, arbors, walls, ponds or waterfalls in your fee package.
I know that's a lot of questions but the more we all understand about your concept, the more help we can be to you.

[Belisarius]

Thank you for your answers, I am looking forward to learning as much as I can from this site. There appears to be a huge amount of education in the various threads on this site!
What I have been doing with the estimates is offering the contractor a choice: Once I do the design and estimate I can fax or email it to him immediately for approval. Or, I can jpeg the design and legend with compost, mulch, edging amounts figured up and allow them to price it using their own price structure. I figure that's none of my business anyway.
As far as lengthening the time factor in the process, it's been frustrating for me but my contractors get so caught up in the day's various emergencies that they seem to have trouble getting me jobs they want me to do in a timely fashion. I think they (and then I) am losing some jobs due to their not getting things to me quickly enough and I lose time at home waiting for them to show up late or not at all. I think the way to address that is: "You got a job and it's hot? Great! I'd love to get started on it so we can impress the client- let me come to you and get the information right away!"
As for Lanelle's question(s): The link I gave on this thread is just for contractors. Homeowners don't have a way of reaching that page. I do try to get homeowners myself and make a percentage off the sale when I send it to one of my contractors. Homeowners access my site at the "regular" homepage.
The pricing reflects approx. $50 per hour for design time and may or may not include driving/ meeting the homeowner depending on the project's complexity. I can do an average of two of these designs a day, including meeting and presenting it (if only I had the volume- I love busy days!)

Ya'll have a great weekend!
David

[Belisarius]

Lanelle, you asked about hardscapes- I have been designing the "overhead view" size and shapes of the various structures and walls (figuring heights of walls with a string level) but nothing very detailed. And as for the ambigiuty of "small to normal sized lots" yes, I agree, it bothers me too- I was just trying to save myself from doing huge project for peanuts. Would you advise taking that discalaimer off and just explaining to the homeowner of a large property or extremely complex design: "Well, this is a more involved project than I normally design so it'll take more time and I would have to reflect that in the price.........I can do this for $$$" ?
I am also considering adding a page to the site that would detail various services such as "can design hardscapes, pools, etc. And do installations through our great network of contractors....