Would This Help To Get A Job?

MindfulDesign

I am a designer myself and just hired a contractor to do a patio on my small back yard. I usually don’t do landscape design, more architectural stuff, but after we spoke, I drew up a little plan for the contractor to have a general idea of what could be done.

When I gave it to the contractor he was very impressed and eagerly said that he could use my drawing services sometimes for his estimates. This gave me an idea:

If you could present a professionally looking simple drawing with your estimate (or any time after an estimate), would you pay for a drawing like this around $50? Would this help you to look more professional when you present yourself?
I was thinking if contractors could fax me their sketches, I could e-mail them something with their logo on it the next day… Would this help you guys in your business at all?

Thanks for your comments!

p.s. Please see a sample drawing in my “My Photos” on the left here to get an idea of what I’m talking about, as I can not post pictures yet, I guess.
It’s in “Quick Estimating Drawings” folder.

detroitMi

Hello there, drowings might be helpful to customers,especially those without imagination.I do lots of marble granite and stone custom,sometime it is hard to make the customer visualize "how the job would look once done"

send_it_all

I would be very interested in something like that. Hell, if I ever get a job again, I just might contact you....lol

JumboJack

Very interested...

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in texas with framing and cornish people will do it for 3.00 a foot. What do yall think about that? Just laber

MindfulDesign

Hey, send it all my way!

What do you think you would pay for something like this? Let’s say for the 2 quick options of the kitchen?

And a separate item: for 2 quick options of a backyard. The backyard took less time. How about 15 cents per a S.F. Is that too much?

Thanks!

Cole

That's what I do on every job.

I think you can find better things to do then charge $50 per drawing. If most of the guys here would download sketchup, in a couple of months they could be doing 3d presentations for clients and be landing more jobs.

BTW- most contractors do not charge for estimates, so selling drawings to guys that have no estimate fee or design fee will be tough. An if they are charging for estimates/drawings they are probably capable of drawing up their own presentations. Good luck, you might sell a couple but it wont make you rich.

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Tulsa's Leader in Outdoor Living Construction | Facebook | Tulsa Pergola Builder | Tulsa Outdoor Kitchens

MattCoops

I definitely think your idea is marketable.

We use Skethchup for our bath remodel designs and it makes a big impact in our sales presentations.

I like Sketchup because it is based in a 3D environment so customers can do a "walkaround" of different areas of the room. And you can always do a top view for an informal "layout" to be printed.

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Matt with Cupan Custom Tile & Paint of Lowell, Massachusetts
Design and installation of ceramic tile and natural stone for floor, wall, and countertops
(978) 601-8774 | cupantile@gmail.com | view tile pictures and more

MattCoops

by the way:

Cole,

Every couple of months I click on link to your website in your signature to see when you finally upload your finished website design.
Waiting for that yellow sticky note to be lifted.

I think you have a great theme there. Nice concept

a little off topic, but a shameless plug nonetheless

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Matt with Cupan Custom Tile & Paint of Lowell, Massachusetts
Design and installation of ceramic tile and natural stone for floor, wall, and countertops
(978) 601-8774 | cupantile@gmail.com | view tile pictures and more

Cole

Matt, right now I am just waiting on the content to be finished. A friend of mine that writes books has been working on it for a couple of weeks. We are just proof reading everything and it should be online next week, hopefully. I am so ready to rip that temp site I have off the server and delete it and launch the main site.

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Tulsa's Leader in Outdoor Living Construction | Facebook | Tulsa Pergola Builder | Tulsa Outdoor Kitchens

send_it_all

So if I give you a 300 square foot kitchen plan, you'll draw it up for $3.00? I suppose I can fork that over, but you better do a good job....lol

MindfulDesign

SketchUp is really cool too. But it’s for design work and takes more time. I was thinking more for an estimate. If you are estimating for free on $20 -$100k job, $50 doesn’t sound much. Just a thought…

Cole

Sketchup is not just for design, I can put together a floorplan for most remodels in under an hour.

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Tulsa's Leader in Outdoor Living Construction | Facebook | Tulsa Pergola Builder | Tulsa Outdoor Kitchens

Cole

Oh I wanted to add, I think you do have a market, but as you might know, most contractors are really cheap bastards.

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rbsremodeling

That's Mr Bastard to you buddy

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Cole

haha, that made me spit up my water.

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Tulsa's Leader in Outdoor Living Construction | Facebook | Tulsa Pergola Builder | Tulsa Outdoor Kitchens

wellbuilthome

yes , That is what i do but my wife draws the pics for me . . My architect jut fixes them up and has a pal stamp them .

AskForTheSale

We utilize our charm and silver tongue to paint a picture in the minds of our customers with our oratory skills which drives the customer wild with expectation for the product/service they purchase from us and receive after signing the contract.

Why would we rely on a piece of paper to replace our communication abilities which helps us to establish a relationship with our clients?

MindfulDesign

Yes, I think for Electrical contractors it may not work. Even though if you are doing some cool lighting design you would want your clients to see it first…
To tell you the truth it was sooo hard to find a backyard contractor for our job. Some of them do not have any pictures of their work and looked a bit scary. No offence.
I just thought this would help some of you to look a bit more professional, if your wife can not draw it.

SLSTech

Yes, you have a market, the catch is finding it. Most everyone here does there own, or has someone doing drawings & renderings for them. There are times I would pay to have someone else do it for me, simply because I don't always have the time, nor am I the fastest at it. At the moment I have plenty of time but thats another story...

NARI has one of there national members (sorry I dumped the email already or I would give you the companies web site) does kitchen designs starting @ .99 a SF up to 5.99 for full renderings

You might check at some of the local lumber yards about doing some design work for customers, them, etc...

Best of luck

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Certified Energy Efficiency Audits, Ratings, Modeling, Verifications, & Consulting
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MattCoops

I find more customers are more visual-appetizing than they are thought-provoking.
They rather see something explained than hear about a concept.

Believe me, Sketchup sells projects. If you got some free time at night, early morning, or weekends, it's worth an hour or two a day to learn it. It's a free application, courtesy of Google.

It can do great "floor plan" type designs.
Actually I usually start with the floor plan sketch in "top" view. And then start using the "push/pull" tool to drag up the walls. And then you can add your models like toilets, cabinets, sinks, fixtures, yada yada. And so easy to click and "paint" textures and colors on surfaces.

Here's a floor plan style screenshot of what you can do with Sketchup:

Attached Images

 

__________________
Matt with Cupan Custom Tile & Paint of Lowell, Massachusetts
Design and installation of ceramic tile and natural stone for floor, wall, and countertops
(978) 601-8774 | cupantile@gmail.com | view tile pictures and more