Bill for ALL Your Time
If you earn too little income, you give away too
much time.
Bill for your time. All your time. Every
time.
Why do many design professionals fail to achieve
their financial goals? They give away their expertise.
They donate too much time, too often.
They don’t bill for lengthy phone calls from clients.
Or for installing the window treatments. Or
for meeting with contractors. Or for shopping. Or
for “overseeing” the furniture delivery.
Fail to charge for your time, and you fail to attach a
value to yourself. You invite others to take advantage of
you. You make it more difficult for other design
professionals to charge for their services.
The most financially successful design professionals I meet
at my speaking engagements around the country bill for:
+ all their telephone consultation time
+ all their planning time
+ all their drafting and “sketching” time
+ all their measurement and installation time
+ all their project management time
+ all their travel time
+ every hour of every personal appointment
Got a problem with that? Call a lawyer, or visit
a doctor. You’ll find that all their expertise comes at
a price.
Yours should, too.
I have just started my own interior decorating business in a rurban area one hour north west of Toronto. This area is growing rapidly and there is quite a bit of migration from the big city. Lots of rich horse farms in this beautiful countryside - not unlike Mississouri with the hills. Local people are not familiar with working with interior decorators and it is difficult to jusify the economic value of my work until they take a “leap of faith” and then realize this was a good investment. I tell them up front what my fees are, but they seem to forget that I bill for ALL of my time $100.00 per hour. I sometimes will give the first half hour free if I am promoting new business. I always show my total costs and then the discount. Ihave a hard time charging someone $500. for a day of shopping. One client who’s $700,000. valued home burned down after we completed the decorating went directly to the furniture suppliers at a showroom centre and they gave her my discount because they felt sorry for them. I worked this out with the furniture supplier and they gave me my commission. They took the loss, but my client virtually stole from them and me. I also received payment from my client for my time. BUT they tried to go around me.
Another client is surprised that I charged them for a 1 1/2 hours consultation reviewing their project when I asked them if they wanted me to stay and review it. Do I always have to outline that they will have to pay for my time? I had given them an outline of my billing procedures upon commencement.
This woman is the chairperson for the University Women’s Club that I am a member of and hoping to market my business to.
I am decorating a hair salon and contacted the owner’s painter for an estimate for the project since the owner wants her own painter. I have attempted to give this painter work in the past, but things haven’t worked out so far. He is a bit pricier than others. He has not had the courtesy of replying to my voicemail. He told my client that he doesn’t have to work with me because he had done work for my client previously. This has put my client in the middle and I told her that I would work this out for her. Any advice?
I am getting more confident and would like to be more discrimating in choosing to work with people who are on the same page. This is a small town and reputations are very fragile. I have even offered to give back 25% of the initial consultation fee should the client continue to work with the project. Trades people charge to come to your home and people pay because they NEED their services. How do we educate the public that our services are valuable and they can trust us? The many TV decorating programs never address the consultation fees nor even the actual cost of the project. In 30 minutes you can open your eyes and see a miraculous transformation. This is totally unrealistic. I appreciate all that you are teach, but I am having difficulty with some of it since I am my own sole provider and need business. Many decorators in this area work in this field part-time - hobby- don’t even advertise their business. I am a student member of CDECA- who are trying to raise the bar for our profession. I am completing my final design course (part-time)towards my acceditation. How do I incorporate your principals and gain and keep clients in this competitive field? Thanks for your expertise and coaching. my
Comment by Margo Young — November 1, 2006 @ 10:36 am
How much are design professionals charging for their time?
Comment by Award Windowcoverings — November 2, 2006 @ 4:58 pm