pricing custom jobs without a computer

[Linda Pedigo]

Help...I have a 7 year old shop and no point of sale comuter for pricing. My old pricing wheel for moulding is getting obsolete and my NEC framing calculator is old and not replaceable. I need a workable solution for pricing jobs that employees can use. I an figure most anything, they cannot.

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lindap.p

[JRB]

Hi Linda, Welcome to the Grumble.
I think what you need is a pricing chart. I have one that I've been using for 25 years and it still works great.

If you send me your address I'll send you a copy of it. It does have a small learning curve though. You would have to adjust the prices to suit your area and your mark up.

I'm not sure but I think Larson has some suggested retail price sheets as well. Give them a call.
John

[Linda Pedigo]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Linda Pedigo:

Help...I have a 7 year old shop and no point of sale comuter for pricing. My old pricing wheel for moulding is getting obsolete and my NEC framing calculator is old and not replaceable. I need a workable solution for pricing jobs that employees can use. I an figure most anything, they cannot.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

[ArtLady]

I am guessing that if you have employees you probably do enough business to afford a computer system. May I ask why you have not stated a computer system as an option?

Have you considered sitting down and putting together an organized training program for your employees? Long term I think this will help you with your growth strategies.

[Jim Miller]

I'm with Artlady --

Any professionally-operated frame shop should be using one of the commercially-prepared software programs for pricing, customer database, and order histories -- at least. Those features alone would pay for the system (new computer and all) within a year; probably within six months.

Arithmetic mistakes, transposition errors, and other human errors are eliminated or lessened. Customers question prices computed with a pencil, but not when the computer does it. Frame design goes faster, because pricing alternatives is a snap -- just key in the numbers and there's the new data.

Most of all, the common internet-updating features save countless hours and $$$ in updating your pricing schedules, moulding samples and mat samples; time that would be better spent Grumbling, or even framing. At a typical shop rate of $50.00 per hour, most of us would spend several hundred dollars per year keeping our prices up-to-date manually (I spent about three hours a month doing it, until I got software in 1994; that's $1800 per year!)

I would never again consider running a frame shop with manually-prepared pricing.

If your response is that you don't update often enough to realize the time savings, then you can't be keeping up with increases, and you have even *more* reason to get with the program.

Run the numbers, Linda, and I'm sure you would agree that you're waaaay overdue for a technology boost.