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Time doing “unique” things

Oak River Mike | Posted in Business on November 11, 2009 12:17pm

Do you guys end up doing alot of unique design aspects or hunting certain itemsmaterials?

I think we all do it but I just seem to always get those jobs which require ALOT of that.  Some subs that work for me comment on how much time we spend doing things that others would just say No to.  An example is hunting down a certain kind of gate or special hinges for a cabinet or a certain kind of flooring for a special room, or electronic light switches that do a specific thing. 

On one of our current projects, I have calculated I have 34 hours in just “searching” for things like this….

Which don’t get me wrong, I LOVE as it makes us stand above the guys who just says No, it can’t be done or I don’t do that…

Just wondered if you experience alot of that and how you handle it and how you charge for it? 

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  1. Autod1dact | Nov 11, 2009 02:16am | #1

    The company I work for does a lot of that. There's custom, and then there's customized. <G>

    I'm pretty sure my bosses lose money on unbilled time spent on unique items.

  2. dug | Nov 11, 2009 02:49am | #2

    IF..... they are willing to comp. me for the time, sure I will be happy to.

     IF not.... I just say no if it can't be reasonably found or , more likely I would defer the research over to the customer and tell them to find it.

      I use to try to charge more for jobs like this but still ended up making less or giving away my time. Not so much anymore.

     Every thing within reason.

     You probably get these jobs because they know you will go above and beyond....... or give away your time.

      Track your time and be sure you are making money on these jobs, after all thats why we do what we do.

      Good luck

      dug

  3. jimAKAblue | Nov 11, 2009 03:18am | #3

    This applies to us now and also when I was remodeling: I charged a lot for "unique" things...thus discouraging them.

    The remodeling business was horrible for wasting huge amounts of time on ten dollar items so the only defense is writing up specific charges for items like that and learn to make big money on them instead of losing.

    In the roofing business, I actually prefer them to say no when I offer a "unigue" item at a huge markup. Unique to me is just about anything that I can't find on the shelf at the local home depot shingle aisle LOL. The benefit of them saying no is that we get to concentrate our efforts on our core business: shingles.

  4. sapwood | Nov 11, 2009 04:22am | #4

    My business is the design and fabrication of custom furnishings for homes and office. Mostly this is furniture, but it includes fireplace surrounds, handrails, and other things. Custom to me, means exactly that. Seldom do I repeat anything other than basic structure. I spend a lot of time researching materials and figuring out how to put normal materials together in new ways. It takes a tremendous amount of time to do this and to arrive at a finished product. Of course the final price reflects this but often I simply cannot charge for it all. It's a fact of my life... I've accepted it.

    What I won't do is a project for an individual who is trying for the lowest price they can get from me. Nor do I work for individuals who I don't feel good about. I know that I'm going to invest myself in their project, so they have to deserve it. If I feel marginal about a particular client, then I jack the price up to compensate. Fortunately, I haven't had a "bad" client for a very very long time. (except when I'm working on my own stuff... that guy's an sob)

  5. Hiker | Nov 11, 2009 04:30pm | #5

    Yeah,  it is pretty much what we do and I hate the fact that I love doing unique things.  I can never recoup what I consider the "artistic value" of what we did.

    But I do enjoy doing very unique things.

    For example, the last addition we did, during the design I had to develop very complex roof lines to allow for windows, egress, city height and wall restrictions. 

    I was cutting rafter jigs and my father a retired carpenter came up and asked if those are the rafter and looking at the seven different rafter I said "no they are the jigs for the rafters on the backside of the house."  He looked at me and shook his head and said "Don't you ever do things that are simple."

    I smiled and said no.

    Bruce

    1. Oak River Mike | Nov 11, 2009 04:52pm | #6

      Bruce,

      Yes, thats what I mean!

      My problem is folks ask me to do stuff in the middle of the project and I have trouble saying No as I enjoy the challenge.  You never really make up the cost of your time but maybe by the end of the project they are happy and it results in future work?

      1. Hazlett | Nov 12, 2009 03:37pm | #7

        Mike,
        you need to think about who you want to be-and how you got in that position. I am primarily in roofing- let's compare what blue said- with what I shoot for- because BOTH ways have merit.
        blue doesn't want to sell anything he can't buy from aile 15 at Home Depot I don't want to sell anything that CAN be found in Home Depot blue is looking for standard items- I think he mentioned in another thread even hip and ridge caps accessories are custom,up sell ,items- they use cut up 3 tabs as caps on dimensional shingles We always use hip and ridge I am focusing on slate and tile projects- more specifically Tile and Slate WHY?- because you can't buy tile and slate roofing at Home Depot- it's all "custom" sourcing slate- is comparatively easy- it's still quarried, it's fairly abundant also as salvage and I can always find something that is a good match---so it's simple- but it isn't available from home depot but what is really turning my crank-is tile- houses built here in the 1910's,1920's-the old big,nice ones- were often done with tile roofs-and a lot of it has been out of production since the 1930's.
        I love the hunbt for just the right tile accessory piece how does this effect you(affect?) you can charge for it- but not straight up( at least I can't)
        i cant tell a prospective customer straight out that I am charging them $####/hour just to LOOK for their tile instead- I have to know up front what is available,what is likely to be available,what I can probably find-and roughly what it is going to cost- mark that up in my head-and THEN explain to the prospect the financial realities. If they BALK at that point-then I don't even start the search. also- for me, I keep a constantly evolving network of places I can buy stuff that you can't get at home depot-stuff that other folks might say"is unavailable"-1/4 sawn white oak, redwood claps,clear cedar and so forth.- then I tell the homeowner the story behind the materials-without giving enough info that the homeowner could buy it themselves or send another contractor there to get it. suprisingly-EVERYBODY likes to hear how special their materials are and how hard they are to locate- they LIKE to here that the tiles used for a repair on there house came from building in indianna, or were salvaged from a former "millionaires row" 3 counties away- they LIKE a story-and THAT is what you can charge for gotta run,( literally)
        stephen

        1. Oak River Mike | Nov 13, 2009 04:19am | #8

          Good points Stephen.

          I have found that I can easily charge for this kind of time and effort AFTER the idea is completed and successful.  Its just if their idea doesn't work or we can't make it happen that the cost becomes an issue.

          I guess its kind of like if you take a vehicle to a mechanic and he doesn't fix it but still charges you, you get ticked.

           

          Mike

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