Help Requested For Graduate Class Project

morlysafer

Hello all. I realize I'm breaking the forum rules by joining up and starting a new topic but here goes:
I'm in a graduate entrepreneurship class and my group is developing a business plan around a home detailing/ staging company that is focused on fixing the aesthetic issues of a home. While staging achieves a large degree of this, we believe that incorporating the handyman/ minor remodeler/landscaper into one group would give us a strategic advantage against the companies that represent each part individually. We would do the staging ourselves and sub out the work initially but eventually bring it all in-house. The problem I'm running into that brings me here to plead for help is pricing. I need some kind of pricing, with gross and operating profit margins and some indication of profit durability to present to the "investors" which is in this case, my professor. I realize that each job is going to vary on both what needs to be done and what you can charge(profit-wise) but can anyone here give me some base lines to work with? I need:
-standard profit margin for a start-up
-operating margin
-cash on hand to keep the company floating for 6 months
-profit durability

We're in the southeast in a small metro area (Chattanooga, TN). The housing market is still in decent shape but sellers are feeling the pressure from the media to sell sooner rather than later. Our competitive advantage will be ability to meet short deadlines, our home selling expertise(one of us has a real estate license) and we will be certified home stagers.

Thank you for the help. Any advice, positive or otherwise, is appreciated.

Ed the Roofer

Before you read the script telling you that you need to post this at the DIY Site, I will add on link from an article posted on here for you to better understand the issues of pricing and profit.

Ed

edit:
Now go and read through this thread first. Contractors who care to discuss this topic are freely welcome to go folloqw up with your post on the DIY site as well, and many do go there, so you should be able to still obtain the information you seek.
http://www.contractortalk.com/f16/pricing-estimating-success-27899/



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