New to the Business

[Totalsecureguam 0]

I am new to the business of installing and selling video equipment and I am a bit lost on how much to charge to do installations.

I have a lot of experience in the Automotive electronics field, Ie Alarm systems and DVD setups so I think CCD stuff should be no problem.

 

I was thinking to charge per camera and more for longer wire installations and difficulty.

 

Also, do I charge a different price on setting the system with smart phone viewing capability? I have done some testing thru installing friends systems and I think I have it down ok .

 

I Also was looking into waterproof boxes so that I can rig 2 cameras into one box and one cat5 wire out. No one seems to have anything affordable and easy to work with. Maybe a long trip at home depot will show me some better options.

 

What kind of warranty should I give also ? Camera and dvr are 2 yrs manufacture .

 

All help greatly appreciated.

thanks

Al

[the toss 0]

I am new to the business of installing and selling video equipment and I am a bit lost on how much to charge to do installations.

I have a lot of experience in the Automotive electronics field, Ie Alarm systems and DVD setups so I think CCD stuff should be no problem.

 

I was thinking to charge per camera and more for longer wire installations and difficulty.

 

Also, do I charge a different price on setting the system with smart phone viewing capability? I have done some testing thru installing friends systems and I think I have it down ok .

 

I Also was looking into waterproof boxes so that I can rig 2 cameras into one box and one cat5 wire out. No one seems to have anything affordable and easy to work with. Maybe a long trip at home depot will show me some better options.

 

What kind of warranty should I give also ? Camera and dvr are 2 yrs manufacture .

 

All help greatly appreciated.

thanks

Al

 

The main thing to remember is that customers like accuracy in your quote, they like to know what they are up for. If you lack cabling experience then you may find this to be a problem. Customers will be unhappy if you allow for problems in a job that turns out to be a walk in the park but have charged for a worst case scenario. On the other hand if you charge for what you percieve to be an easy job & it turns into a nightmare, they will not be happy if you try to slug them more. DNS & smartphone setups are only charged when cabling is involved , the actual programming setup is part of the installation commissioning.

I have been doing this for 18yrs and my quotes are based on an hourly rate. When doing the quote mention ANY possible problems that may cause a blowout in the time - the customers appreciate being kept informed. I suppose they are not quotes but rather estimates. There are plenty of jobs I've done were the final cost is less than what the customer is expecting.

This works for me , I dont advertise , all work is word of mouth and people seek me out.

[milkisbad 0]

All I can say is pick a good supplier and test stuff out before you go install stuff, your reputation will get damaged if you go to job site THEN find out the cameras bad. Yes it takes more time, but don't rely on the vendor to do any quality assurance.

[Dirk_D 0]

don't forget to add the fudge factor, and at least one payment on your rocket car made of gold. And the tax man.....never forget the tax man - he'll flatten your tires real quick.