Builders – Paying for Convenience
Most of us are fairly willing to pay a few extra dollars for convenience. We know it costs us an extra dollar a gallon for milk at the C-Store, but it was right there, we didn’t have to drive two minutes out of our way, find a parking spot, and trudge through a big store. It was worth it!
How about paying out a LOT of dollars for convenience?
Below is an actual email from a potential client. These were the kind of folks who put huge smiles (all of the way to the bank) on my face when I was a pole building contractor!
“My Husband wants to go with the WHOLE PACKAGE which means he is looking at Companies that have THEIR OWN BUILDERS – We REALLY liked your price but just DO NOT feel comfortable with you supplying us with a list of Builders and we have to set it all up – He just wants to keep it simple and all together so …. I would like to thank you for your time and quote.”
Why would this have made me so happy?
Because 25% of what they were going to pay me for the convenience was going straight into my pocket!
With an average constructed pole building ranging from $30 to 40,000 – I will take the 25% every time someone hands it over to me!
Maybe some folks just cannot wrap their heads around what happens when they contract with a company who has “their own builders”.
First, the materials are the materials. There is no magic “free lumber tree” out there, nor is there a pot of roll formed steel siding at the end of the rainbow. For the most part, the cost of the materials is going to be a direct reflection upon their quality and what is included in the design.
The majority of builders are going to do everything within their power to increase their profit margins, it is for this reason you do not find builders who are willing to work on a “cost plus” a flat percentage.
Second, the installers are the installers. Whether hiring them direct and paying them yourself, or paying a general contractor to pay them, they are the very same people. When you hire them direct, you have the advantage of being able to properly vet them yourself. You know beforehand who is going to be driving the nails.
When hiring a general contractor, you have no advance idea if you will get a crew on the hundredth or their first building!
Read this again and ponder it: “When hiring a general contractor, you have no advance idea if you will get a crew on the hundredth or their first building!”
The rookie crew “hoses” (technical construction term meaning it was really, really bad) your building and the general contractor is going to scramble to save his own profits first. Chances are small your building is going to turn out the way it truly should have.
Third, general contractors do not work for free. They need to be paid for their time and efforts, even if the time and efforts mean they drive around in a nice new four wheel drive pickup all day.
Before taking this multi-thousand dollar convenience leap – think long and hard about it. The money you save could go a long way towards your new pole building!
