1st June 2022:
I love this particular orchid…
I purchased this from a local garden centre Christmas time 2020. It’s now nearly June 2022 and it’s still prolific in flowering.
I think I paid about £20. You’ve got to say that’s amazing value…
And it got me thinking…
We had a phone call the other day…
He wanted his big koi pond lining, filtration and stoning. Big undertaking.
We looked at it and said it will be more than likely start from £60k to £80k lots of factors…
He then said it’s more than he wanted to spend.
Which is fair enough.
He then said I’ve had two other companies one said around £80k and the other £30k.
Here’s the the thing… which would end up the most expensive estimate?
The 30k one. Here’s why.
I know what the materials cost to do that job right.
I know exactly what our labour costs, hire costs and the fixed costs of the company during the install.
Even with very low fix costs that company couldn’t make money on it.
So what does the low estimate tell me
> it’s probably not that company’s expertise
> that cost might not include everything
> it more than likely has filtration not big enough to handle koi
Or it’s a really naive contractor
who will do the work and earn nothing from it. (I’ve been there believe me!)
Or worse, the job will be a complete disaster and you’ve wasted £30k (most expensive estimate).
This is why we have a £997 design fee for Koi ponds.
We survey properly and give an accurate cost.
Which means the following:
> the client gets exactly what they paid for
> they have super accurate drawings that show them everything so they can see it’s but done correctly
> they know the company that installed it will be here 5/10 years after the install to help
This brings me right back round to the orchid.
Value for money comes in all forms.
Paying our design fee is actually a loss leader for the company.
But shows us that the client is serious.
Because we’re serious.
And here’s the thing…Our ponds will go on and on. Just like my Orchid.