I think I shot myself in the foot

[lc]

Okay I am really not happy right now ,. I have done the seats for Kelseys restaurants for a while now ..They have new owners and wanted a quote on re-doing everything .

It had been a couple of years so I asked for advice from my bookkeeper what a good mark up would be since it had been a while since they wre last done.

She said 25% ., therefore I submitted my estimate and I haven't heard back ., any other thime they got back to me within a week . I think I lost it .
It's been a couple of months now
Should I follow up on it and if so what should I say ? I can't very well tell them I'll reduce my price it would look like I'm grovelling

[MinUph]

Following up is fine. Don't lower your price but ask if they have decided yet on doing the work.

[kodydog]

Yes, follow up. You have no idea whats going on. Could be their still thinking about it. If your busy don't grovel. But if you need the work tell them your knocking off 10% for the month of March. Never lower your price to much, your next big job is right around the corner.

You didn't shoot your foot. You know how much you need to charge and they may not be able to afford you. Not your problem.

[bobbin]

It's scary to submit a bid and hear nothing... . 

I did a "look/see" and submitted a bid on a 3 slipcovers.  I crunched the numbers and the yardages made me choke.  So did the labor quote.  I didn't hear anything for about 2 mos..  I got the job!  (more importantly, my fabric estimate and labor quote was right on the snapper!!!).  Reread the information in parentheses; there's a lesson there... crunch the numbers!

I count myself in the "insecure crowd".  I second guess myself all the time, LC.  But when I told you to "believe in yourself" I was dead serious! 

Bottom line:  if you are good at what you do, and you believe in delivering a quality product to your customer... if you REALLY believe that stuff... then you will do just fine.  Cream rises to the top!

I immediately thought your mark-up was low; but, upon reflection,  I also understand that when you're dealing with large commercial accounts a lower mark-up can be just fine as long as you're given the ability to schedule the work strategically. 

[lc]

It's odd how we under estimate ourselves ., I think my insecureness gets increased when I'm not busy such as now.., with the cold weather everybody up this way are renovating .

I did a write up in our local paper about decorating and renovating and threw in a plug to think about having their furniture covered to match the room .


I had a call today and this woman for a repair., she refered to that paper as to where she got my name. I hope I get more response soon.
If you knew me before.., insecure wasn't the word !...getting into the business was the scariest thing I have ever done ...my weakness ?...business accounting ""Also no business sense '' and I was horrible at math .
I went for it anyway because I believe in my work and I hired a bookkeeper ...I don't think I could have done it without her. I wish she could advise me in the right direction at times ., I guess that isn't their job ...

What has made me stronger is the customer appreciation I get and it drives me to keep going .... I can do estimates and get the decimals in the right places now heh heh.. I'm serious though.., I had a hard time with estimates and getting the final total right .  It's  getting better as I go . I still have so much to learn.
I also have to get a bit firmer with pricing ...I get a bit too soft at times then  resent I didn't charge enough .

[sofadoc]

I don't know how Kelsey's runs things. But I've done work for a few chain restaurants.

Times are changin'. It ain't like the old days, when the store manager had sole discretion on which upholstery shop he wanted to hire.
The corporate boys have their hand in every aspect of things now.

One chain wanted me to guarantee my prices for 3 years. And they had countless other hoops for me to jump through, including attending a seminar 300 miles away, and a mountain of paperwork with each job.

I had done their booth seats for over 20 years.
I told them to find someone else.

6 months later, they called back. The manager told me to forget about all the "hoops", just come get the booth seats.

They have new owners and wanted a quote on re-doing everything .

When a chain gets new ownership, they instinctively want to do things differently from the old regime. This includes pitting local bidders against each other.
If someone else is willing to work cheap, let 'em have it.

I'd rather bid too high, and NOT get the job, than bid too low, and GET it.

[lc]

Thats a good point ., I get a resentment for their way of doing things and too much competition.,
It was a good little revenue doing their booths . Their benches were huge ., hard work but well worth it....I know I'll get busy and shrug them off eventually ...It gives me a grrrrr feeling though ..heh heh

I think I will ask you people about mark ups so I can be safe about it.
I will follow up on it anyway it doesn't hurt to ask.

I have made the mistake of giving a price on something., then when I didn't hear back I  e-mailed them and dropped the price.  bad mistake ...they had sent me an e-mail at the same time I was sending theirs and they had said yes to the previous price ...shot myself in the foot again...I am going to need prothetics ( or however you spell that ....

[Grebo]

I did a quote October last year for a replacement Dodger, it was a biggee & the cost made me wince,
I sent it off & never heard any more. I meant to chase it in the New year, but never go around to it.
They just got back to me asking when it could be done by  ???
Well after I 'reworked' the quote because of price increases, they still want it.
:o
My chase up was going to mention price increases & getting it done before I was booked up for Easter.  ;)
I never drop prices unless really pushed.

Suzi

[mike802]

I am beginning to wonder if you don't ever really make any money in this business until you get to the point that you could care less if you ever see another sofa, or whatever, ever again.  I never lower my price, pricing is different in a skilled, or artistic based service, than say retail.  In my opinion, I would never rely on my book keeper, or accountant to help me decide on price.  They may be able to do that real well for retail, but what we do as upholsters is far different.  What I mean by this is when you set your price you a placing yourself in the hierarchy of skill in the customers mind.  Low price = low skill and so on.  I have never had much luck with chain restaurants, around here they usually get new booths shipped to them.  I have had good luck with privately owned ones.

[waqas101]

I just like the helpful information you provide . I will bookmark your forum and check again right here frequently. I am relatively sure I will be told many new stuff right right here! Good luck for the following!

[sofadoc]

FUTURE SPAM ALERT!!!

I just like the helpful information you provide . I will bookmark your forum and check again right here frequently. I am relatively sure I will be told many new stuff right right here! Good luck for the following!

[lc]

How the heck did you pick up on that ???

[kodydog]

Its a generic post and their first one. Bad grammar, not that mine is great. Could be legit but I doubt it.

[JuneC]

Kody's right.  What do you see upholstery related in that post?  Nothing... Spam.

And Mike, I think you've hit the nail on the head.  Until you reach a point that you can basically "name your price" you're not going to make any money in these upholstery related trades.  If competing on price alone, you'll be eating peanut butter and day-old bread.  It requires you reach a point that you give a price for a job, sit back, and wait.  If they can't afford you, you can't afford to work for them. 

June

[mike802]

Kody's right.  What do you see upholstery related in that post?  Nothing... Spam.

And Mike, I think you've hit the nail on the head.  Until you reach a point that you can basically "name your price" you're not going to make any money in these upholstery related trades.  If competing on price alone, you'll be eating peanut butter and day-old bread.  It requires you reach a point that you give a price for a job, sit back, and wait.  If they can't afford you, you can't afford to work for them.

June

I like the way you think June  :D