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Discussion Forum

Consulting Fees?

cioffi | Posted in Business on October 22, 2003 09:23am

Hi All,

Need a little advice. A repeat customer is building a garage/ workshop. He’s asked me to be a “consultant” and wants to know what I charge for that kind of work. The guys got skills but he’s gonna want me to design it, spec it, and handle some suppliers. If I were bidding the job I’d factor this all in at the hourly rate but have no experience pricing this kind of thing. To my mind there are three ways, flat rate, hourly rate, or percentage of the total job price. Any thoughts as to a benchmark for any of those three would be appreciated.

On the light side, I got a call for a 1,000′ addition. So I’m talking to the guy and he tells me he just won the lottery and wants to spend a boat load on the house. Very next sentence he asks if i give multi-project discounts.

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  1. Piffin | Oct 22, 2003 03:28pm | #1

    The first guy sounds more like he wants a designer/coach than a consultant.

    My consultant fees start at $250 a pop and are usually one time deals but go to a couple thousand about one out of eight deals. In consulting, it is the knowledge and advice about what to do or what the options are with comparison that they are buying. A writen report for each.

    My design fee is $500 fee plus hourly rate for doing the drawings and revisions plus printing costs. By having a fee on top of the hourly, I get something for my knowledge and creativity beyond a basic draftsman.

    I don't know about onthejob teaching him. that depends on your relationship with him and you scheduling on other jobs.

    The lotto winner -

    He suddenly thinks he's big stuff and trying to play wheeler dealer. Set him stright from the beggining

    .

    Excellence is its own reward!

    1. cioffi | Oct 23, 2003 04:52am | #2

      Thank you, that's a thoughtful and helpful response. Breaking it up into design/coach/consultant really helps to clarify my thought process in terms of organizing something like this. Now I'm leaning toward the flat fee for design-consultant part of the gig and an hourly rate for any "coaching". I appreciate the help.

      Vince

    2. OneofmanyBobs | Oct 23, 2003 07:36pm | #3

      Hmmmm.  Charge $250, post the question on the Forum, write up the answers and give it to the customer.  That's how you do it.  Not bad.  Reminds me of a sign I saw once.  "Questions; $5.  Answers; $10.  Correct answers; $50".

      Actually, a good approach.  I always charge a fee plus hourly rate.  30 years experience is worth something more than you can reflect in a simple hourly rate.  Either that, or you charge for all the hours necessary to analyze the problem before actually setting anything down on paper.  The fee turns out to be a relative bargain.  You can hire a good draftsman cheaper, but you have to tell him what to draw.

      1. Piffin | Oct 24, 2003 03:46am | #4

        "Charge $250, post the question on the Forum, write up the answers and give it to the customer."

        LOL

        Half the trick in any business is knowing where to find the answers.

        Excellence is its own reward!

        1. skids | Oct 24, 2003 09:05pm | #5

          a consultant, is a guy you pay, who borrows your watch to tell you what time it is!

          1. User avater
            BossHog | Oct 24, 2003 09:29pm | #6

            I thought a consultant was anybody who's at least 50 miles from home.Great men undertake great things because they are great; fools, because they think them easy. [Luc De Vauvenargues]

          2. Teeds | Oct 25, 2003 01:23am | #7

            The way I have always heard it ...

            A consultant is someone with a briefcase 50 miles past his reputation.

            On another note, I am charging $5K for being the "construction manager" on a house I was paid to design.  the guy building it is a good friend but doesn't know a thing about the building process.  It will probably end up costing him $350K, so my fee is a bargain.

            I go by the house and walk through pointing out things about twice a month and he calls with questions 2 or 3 times a week.

            Works for me ... leaves me loose to work on an HP project I have with a big GC.

          3. Piffin | Oct 25, 2003 04:37am | #8

            I bring my own watch, and for extra value, I tell you what time you need to be where you are going before you know that you need to be there.

            IOW, I set your alarm clock for you..

            Excellence is its own reward!

  2. skipj | Oct 25, 2003 05:42am | #9

    Hey vince!

    RE: Consultants

    I always charge hourly, just like the accountants and lawyers most of these clients are familiar with. I used to ballpark that, but got into some discussions, ("You said a $1,000!").

     The last one I dealt with had teamed up with his neighbor and hired a gang of Tongan gardeners to put up 500' of fence. HD helpfully sold them $5k worth of inappropriate material, truly utterly unusable. So it's a catastrophe, the Tongans are booted, and 9 mos passes. They call me, they have a great fence in 30 days.

    My experience is that the problems aren't with the HO, but with the contractor or crew who arrive on site assuming they can blow through, and are surprised to find that I'm standing there to represent the HO's interest, and to hold them to high performance standards.

    skipj

    1. cioffi | Oct 27, 2003 06:51am | #10

      Thanks for the tip and the chuckle.

      How's that old saying go?

      You get what you pay for just be careful who you pay.

      Vince

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