Outsourced Estimating for Small Contractors: One to Five Bids a Month

Most of the estimating-services market is shaped for a company that has the volume of an estimating department and does not want the payroll. The packages, the retainers and the dedicated estimators all assume ten, fifteen, twenty sets a month. A two-crew insulation or concrete shop sends three, in a good month, and the owner measures them after dinner. This guide is about buying estimating at that size.

Do the retainer math honestly

The $250 column is a typical published per-set figure in the market, and the retainer column is a typical package. The point is the first row: a retainer in a quiet month is the most expensive takeoff you will ever buy, and quiet months are when a small shop most needs to be careful with money.

The minimums to read for

• A deposit before work starts. Half the fee up front is a minimum you pay before seeing a page.
• A minimum project size. Some directories list one; ask the provider directly.
• A monthly package that does not roll over. Unused estimates are money spent.
• A commitment term. A 12-month package with a setup charge is a contract, however it is described.
• A quote wait. Not money, but a day of your bid window every time.

What a small shop should insist on

1. 1
   Order it yourselfUpload the set, pick the trade and size, see the price, submit. If the price only appears after a quote, the clock starts a day late and you are negotiating on every set.
2. 2
   A fixed price before you commitBy trade and size, on screen. A bigger set than you picked should be re-priced only with your approval.
3. 3
   No floorOne set in February and six in April, each paid for on its own.
4. 4
   Marked-up sheets and a workbookYou are the only check on this takeoff; make sure it can be checked.
5. 5
   Your letterheadIf the estimate goes to the builder, it should carry your logo, your prices and your terms, not the service's.
6. 6
   A rush you can buy when you need itThe set that lands Thursday for Friday is the one that pays for the whole arrangement.

What to keep doing yourself

Outsourcing the takeoff is not outsourcing the bid. You still decide the scope, set the rates, choose what to exclude and sign the number. Keep measuring the unusual set yourself — the one where you need to know every room before you walk the job — and send out the ones that would otherwise not get bid at all. That is where the money is for a small shop: not in the sets you measure, but in the ones you used to skip.

Written by the team at Opulence Built, who also run an insulation and concrete contracting business. We mention our own software where it is relevant and say so when we do.