LOL I concur Hehehehehehehe

Fact is I really enjoy programming remotes. I am slow, but more importantly, I hate the feeling of a client breathing down my neck to finish when the programming is soooo important. I explain that going rate for programming is $125/hr and that I'd rather charge way less and take my time. I don't do anything real fancy, but I believe I'm thorough, and it's always customized to their needs and desires. I'm definately hurting my productivity, but so what? When it stops being fun, I won't do it any more. A very expensive helecopter ride to the hospital one day opened my eyes to how really short life is. I restructured my life after that and only do work I like. It cost me the Mercedes, and the house with the ocean view, but so what? I know my kids now.

If you're that busy, hire a trainee. Eventually you will have some time to putter with remotes. Work to live, don't live to work!

Just my 4 cents (too long winded for two cents)

r

ill be nice

65/man period

65 seems logical overall for my area

$65 per hour per tech with minimum of two techs.

I think you should do fixed price work...you are a contractor yes? Is it not to your advantage to do a fixed price?

P.S. On the salary.com website - I believe we are considered "Installation Managers", "Top Construction Executives" or "General Laborer" pick whatever fits

I have to hand it to you guys. Australia is so far behind when it comes to Custom Installation is it not funny. Going rate for my business is $110 per person per hour. That's more than most people in my area, usual rate is $45 per hour for an electrican. (Not too many qualified home theatre installers.) So i'm suitably impressed and a little envious. And i certainly agree with avdude. I also have a show house instead of an office. Works so well on many levels.

That sounds like the type of client that needs a generalized proposal, without model numbers or a stated labor rate of even labor figures for individual items.

This guy will either take your proposal and go shopping, or if you can build value of hiring you vs someone who will work for less, he may surpirse the heck out of you and write a deposit check on the spot.

I use this analogy sometimes.
A talented chef can make a better meal from a store bought cut of meat than a mediocre chef can make from the butcher's finest prime cut.

Not to say that I use products that are the equivelant of grocery store steaks, but that shifting you ideals and paying a little more for the talented design and competent implementation of that design will be a better investment in the long run.
Maybe you will get one less zone or two fewer theater chairs with your budget, but you'll be able to enjoy it.

On the trunkslammer vs. brick and mortar debate...
I had a large retail location (closed in '99) with nine sound rooms, a service area, and a big inventory area. We had 4 rooms for audio only, plus 2 living room style theater rooms plus a dedicated theater custom installed with a art deco theme, we also had a car audio area with 2 rooms plus some vignettes around the sales counter with additional armoires and furniture ideas aside from what was in the the rooms.

I found that more and more of my sales were coming from one room, my office, which I moved out of the back and on the showroom floor in place of a couple vignettes.

Walk-in sales, especially walk-out-the-door-with-product sales, were steadily declining and all of that gear on display in the rooms weren't turning often enough to justify having them on display, and I wound up dropping some of the lines we had sold for decades. We stopped going to Winter CES and started going only to the now-defunct Summer CES in McCormick Place and the newly established CEDIA show that they initially bounced from one inconvenient location to another each year. (anyone remember the hurricane in New Orleans??)
In my opinion, retail is dead unless you have a business plan drafted by Harvard MBAs with plans to open 300 locations and go public in 5 years. There are notable exceptions that have weathered the storm, but few that try to start it today will do well.

Only downside, certain vendors were not forward thinking and stood firm on requirements to maintain a broad selection of products on display to be a dealer.

MODOM, how is B&W to deal with w/out a showroom??
Back in the 90's, I used to have to maintain full line 300 series, full line 600 series and two 800 series skus on display back in the day. Most of our credit line was on the floor every time they upgraded the line.

This message was edited by 2nd rick on 07/19/04 23:16.

We have a have a showhome with 4 theater rooms and is shown by appointment only. the boss owns the house.The weird thing is that we became B&W dealers before having the home. Later Sound Advice moved into the market, but by that time we had set up the showhome.Last year B&W pulled the line from S.A. so the line is clean again.