Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Summer job

Outstanding, Young Man!!!

Let's get right into the meat & potatoes.

Of course, your whole attitude and assumption at this point, being the strapping young entrepeneur that you are, portrays the fact that you know it's a paying gig.

Don't discuss payment now. Instead, set up the initial meeting. At the meeting, view the gig and ask questions related to the ideas of what the client wants to accomplish. Ask what, if any, land management has been done in the past. Have them state what their dream/ideal goals are for the property. Once established, question them on what they think can be accomplished during the summer, and what could be developed the next fall. At this time, I would ask them where they usually purchase any supplies that they use for land/pond management, if any. Then I would ask them what supplies they think, if any, would be required to get them on the path to their goals.

Ask at least three questions in each area. Get into some depth and probe around.

Now, if there was past land management, I would probe into if they were happy, sad, or glad about what had been done. I would ask more details on who did it. If it was a total outsider to the clients, I would ask how much they spent.

Now if the client does not expect to pay for any supplies or such, take a break and PM me.

But if you've established that the client has in the past, and expects to in the future pay for things needed, you have set up the scene.

Now for the grits...ask how much the client expects to pay to accomplish their own stated ideal goals.

Once you know all of that, then it is time to present your solutions. How and what you would do to accomplish their ideal goals, if possible, and what time frames they could take. I would cover supplies needed to meet these goals, and if you knew where they shopped, you could mention the solution of using that account. Then I would discuss how you plan to work the project meaning what schedule would you keep, would you enlist help, and how you would document what you are doing such as a weekly log with tasks accomplished, and more importantly, hours spent.

Now, you should have an idea of the total level of effort, and your time to task. If you are sharp, and we know you are, you will have a ballpark idea of what the costs will be for your time (assuming you have a billing rate in your mind; let's not start with the $46.50/hour I suggested earlier)/(if you don't know the numbers in your mind, ask to take a few minutes to review your notes, then crunch some numbers). If your time costs plus supply costs are within what they expect to pay, we are golden; if our expected proposal cost is over what they expect to pay, we have to now address it. Eliminate some of the mini-projects, and offer what can be accomplished within their expected costs. We'll have to trust our gut here, and then move to close.

Ask them..."if we can accomplish this, that, and the other, in the time frames we discussed, and within the budget you expect to pay, do you want the Steelman-Slymer House of Fish Squeezing & Supply perform this work for you?

Now remember, we always EXPECT to close, so it's hard for us to not break out in a full-flex crab position demonstrating our total dominance at this point, but we need to hear the clients answer first.

If in the affirmative, we shake hands and then ask when they want to get started. If there are objections, then we have to go back through expectations, solutions and the such....but no worries; remember, we EXPECT to close. If there's any objections, PM me.

At this point you'll have to decide how much, if any, you want to put in writing. You'll, at the very minimum, need to discuss how they plan to pay you ie/ weekly, etc.

Our first paid gig....yeah!

Does anyone else have any advice for this up and coming young entrepreneur?