All Articles Tagged Money

Steve Firszt | 11/15 06:43 AM, 0 Comments

When you put together a system proposal for a client, it's pretty easy to identify the major components of the system. I refer to these as Equipment – all the major, high-cost items specific to a job. Equipment items differ from labor and other job costs in that you are not estimating how many of each component will be required. Exact quantities are specified, and the system is priced accordingly. These items account for close to 95 percent of the materials cost on a project. You need to know how… View this story

Steve Firszt | 10/20 07:37 AM, 0 Comments

Lumber. Conduit. Nails. Shingles. Miles of wire. These are the kind of things I think of when I hear the word “contractor.” Integrators have miles of wire, too, along with numerous other little parts and pieces needed to make all the big pieces of a project work together. But integrators have something traditional contractors don’t, and it makes up about 95 percent of the cost of goods and materials on a project: Inventory. The big stuff. The job-specific components that most integration companies bring in only after the client has… View this story

Steve Firszt | 10/05 07:53 AM, 5 Comments

For custom integrators, the idea is to sell stuff for more than it costs to buy the goods and run the business. Simple, right? But right away you’re confronted with a question that makes all the difference in how effectively you can manage these basic economics: When have you sold something? A seemingly simple question, yet there are multiple answers: When you ask the client for a payment?When the client pays you?When you pay for goods for the client?When you receive goods for the client?When you deliver goods and services?When… View this story