So, Im reading how so many are doing commercial scans, insurance scans, etc. How did you get your foot in the door? How do you market? Who do you target? Im looking to expand my service. Any tips would be appreciated.
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I’d love to know as well. Following.
I as well… following
following as well
Honestly, reach out to local fire investigation firms. Im a full time fire investigator and I make 3D scanning a part of every investigation job and charge a flat rate to scan a building. I just did a 6000 sq ft commercial structure comprising of 5 businesses.
I used to hire a guy with a Matterport to do this for me and said why dont I just buy a camera and do it myself. haven’t looked back since. Its been great and now other investigation firms and major insurance companies are calling me to do scans for them.
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Can I ask your pricing and how you charge 1 price for 1 whole building?
Talk to as many architects as possible. The first time I talked to an architect and then showed him an example, he was so excited, I started digging for a project. Ironically, we have yet to do a project together, but he stays in touch with me.
Some construction companies will see the value of having a *.DXF drawing done in a matter of hours, without the need to send someone to site.
The same construction company will also appreciate the ability to measure inside the virtual tour, if you sell the idea correctly.
Its all about talking to lots of people and don’t forget the magic words “who else do you know that might be interested?” can often get you a warm referral.
I like the idea of fire investigation/restoration. I had not considered this market yet.
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following as well
Do you charge a flat fee or is it per sq ft charge? Do you have an example to look at online?
In my opinion charging per sq foot would be the only fair way to get paid….What are some opinions out there on what a fair per sq ft price should be?
A per square foot would be reasonable if the only costs were just variable, but you have fixed costs associated with just showing up, equipment, insurance, etc. The per foot costs also decrease based on the size of the project and whether you have other services at the same time.
I use a cost calculator for my tours based on the size and other services.
Can you give further information on the cost calculator that you use based on the size and other services? Thank you
I include the processing costs per foot, an estimate of time for scanning and post processing with a minimum amount of time onsite, equipment fee, mileage, and margin.
There is a minimum amount of time that someone will be onsite regardless of if the space is 1500 sq ft or 3000 sqft, so the calculator takes that into account.
That minimum amount of time includes set up, coordination with the property representative, brief walkthrough of spaces to be scanned, etc.
It sounds like you have all steps of the process figured into your cost calculator. How do you come up with a starting cost/fee to build on in your cost calculator?
Processing fees are given
Hourly rate for personnel
Mileage is given
Margin is set by my business plan
I separate out the margin and hourly rate, as I am not the only one that will be using the iGuide, and I will need to make a profit to keep a viable business. You will have to figure that out with your cost of doing business.
The time to complete the iGuide and post processing is also a variable that i am using based on the feedback here as well as from others.
After I buildup my cost of doing business, and add the variables in the cost calculator, it is time to compare with the market place.
Residential Real estate, commercial, and insurance are all very different markets and rates.
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Thank you so much for this information.
So I am actually the owner of a Public Adjuster Firm in New Port Richey, FL USA. I plan to do this and create the ESX file that we use in our estimating software. So to answer your question, most PA Firms with pay somewhere in the region of $150 - $300 depending on the size of the property for this service. On the other hand if you become a licensed insurance adjuster you can even charge a percentage of the loss for the service. I can give you more information, just send me a private message.