Charging to Scenic a layout?


M

Myowngod

Pennsy Tuscan Red Blood
I just got a lead to scenic a womans Lionel layout. I have yet to see the layout yet, but I heard it's 10x12'. A very basic track plan on the horrid green grass mat. A painter/faux artist that comes into my store has pushed his limits and thought he could scenic the layout. Well, He realized after thinking about the project... He's never done this sort of thing before. (open mouth, insert foot) . I told him that scenery was my forte'. Now I'm send some pix of some of my work.

That's the back story

Now, If any of you have done work like this before, I'm curious what you charge your clients? Was it by the hour, by the square foot, or a base price and then additional fees for extra detail or structures? If anyone can give me a direction on price I would greatly appreciate it.
I'm going to look up other layout building websites and see some of their pricing.
 
Whatever you do, don't charge by the square foot. You won't have an exact bill of materials to work from and just a few changes in O scale will eat up any profit you get.

I would charge by the hour with materials charged at normal retail price plus 20% unless you can get the material at wholesale. I think it's really important to sit down with this woman and get a clear idea of what she wants in terms of scenery. Does she want mountains and tunnels or just some trees and roads? How about structures? How many? How many will you have to build compared to buy RTR? Have some pictures of other Lionel layouts with different levels of scenery to show her to help her set a scenery level.

Next, find out when she wants this done. Sit down and do a project plan that shows all the tasks, how each task is related (e.g., which one has to be done before you can start on another), and an approximate estimate of time and a bill of materials for each task. These can be very general, like "Add 40 trees and undergrowth to the back two feet", or very detailed, like exactly what things will have to be done for each square foot of layout by type of scenery. I'm assuming you don't have Microsoft Project. If you do or know someone who does and knows how to use it, this is an ideal tool for planning a project like this. If you get a good project plan together, you can give her a good estimate of time to completion and cost. Don't forget to add 20% to your estimate for contingency because the customer will change her mind many times while you are working and you don't want to nickle and dime her to death for change orders.

I used to do project planning for a living so I know a plan will make or break a project. Just like modeling for yourself, everything always takes more time and costs more money than you planned at the beginning. That's an annoyance when you are just doing your own layout but it's a sure route to losing money if your are doing it for a profit.
 
Hi RON,

First : thanks JIM! because I ( tried hard!) to write the same ..but the language..searching for the right words..not my best part!
I think the most important parts are : everything always takes more time and costs more money than you planned at the beginning.
and: add 20% to your estimate for contingency because the customer will change her mind many times Wish you lot of succes and hope you get that order!( for a good/fair price!)

Jos
 
Thanks Jim and Jos

That is some good info. It's similar to when customers comes into my hardware store to fix a plumbing problem. They think it's a simple fix, but I tell them "Plumbing is a minimum of 3 trips before you are done". Well, sure enough an hour later I see them coming back in for other parts. Next thing you know they are remodeling their bathroom, or even adding another wing onto their house.:D :eek:
All they needed was a flapper for the toilet and end up with 2 more bedrooms upstairs with walk-in closets and separate bathrooms, a study/den on the 1st floor,and a finished off basement(hopefully for a layout).:p

I'm going to charge by the hour, materials plus 20%, and factor in the "Unknown".

Thanks
 
I'd go with what Jim says. That's a pretty good evaluation of what it could take.

The main thing is to get a good handle on the requirements. I don't do project planning per se, but I do implementation work from an IT perspective. And, the biggest issue we have is nailing down the requirements. Over the years, our mantra is "What do you want, what do you really, really, want" (Spice Girls).

Kennedy
 
Jos,
I'm sure you would have written a better summary in English than I culd have in Dutch. :) I think getting the requirements so the customer is satisfied and then having at least 20% for contingency because the customer is never satisfied are two of the keys to profit in a project plan.
 
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