420 Design Blog
A story
09 Jun 2008 | Angie H
I've seen a lot of people get surprised by how much design can cost. I'm sure they wonder how the hell so many designers can "get away" with charging so much for what is seemingly so simple. And to be perfectly honest, it's a valid thought / question. So in reading an article about a different topic, I found the perfect story to kind of explain not only why designers can charge what they do, but also why this is true for any specialized industry (like attorneys, plumbers, hair stylists, consultants, etc.).
"A man worked for years as a maintenance technician at a manufacturing plant. His job was to keep the antiquated production machines running, and he was very good at it. Despite the age of its equipment, the plant hadn't suffered any downtime in years.
The company was sold, and the new owner wanted to cut costs. Unfortunately, the new owner was a bit "penny-wise and pound-foolish." He noticed the plant had never had any downtime due to machines breaking down. He reasoned if the machines were so reliable, why did he need a maintenance technician on salary all the time? Despite the production manager's protests, the new boss laid off the maintenance guy.
Others in the plant knew how to take care of minor maintenance issues, so all went well for a few months. The new owner was patting himself on the back for having made a wise decision, when one of the most important machines in the plant suddenly broke down completely.
Without this machine, all work at the plant came to a standstill. With all the employees standing around and all the other equipment idled, the plant was losing money by the minute.
Worse still, nobody in the building had any idea how to fix the machine. And the company who manufactured the machine had gone out of business decades ago.
Everyone told the owner the only one who knew how to repair that machine was the former maintenance technician. With reluctance, the owner called him.
"Oh, yes, I know that machine well. I'd be happy to come in and help you out," said the maintenance guy. "But since you laid me off, I've gone into business for myself as a consultant. If I can get the machine up and running for you, you'll have to promise to pay my invoice on the spot."
The owner didn't have much choice at that point, so he agreed.
An hour later, the maintenance tech walked through the door. He strode to the malfunctioning equipment, opened his toolbox, and carefully selected a small hammer. He opened a door in the side of the machine, reached in and whacked something inside with the hammer.
The machine started right up.
The man replaced the hammer in his toolbox, wiped his hands, and presented the owner with a neatly typed invoice. It read:
INVOICE
Repair of equipment..... $10,000
"Ten thousand dollars?!" sputtered the owner. "All you did was whack the machine with a hammer! That's outrageous! How could you possibly expect me to pay ten thousand dollars for five minutes of work?"
The man took back the invoice, extracted a pen from his shirt pocket, and scribbled a few words on the paper. He handed the invoice back, and the owner could see what he'd written:
ITEMIZATION OF CHARGES
Whacking equipment with hammer........ $100
Knowing exactly where and how hard to whack... $9,900
The plant manager paid the invoice."
The moral of the story is that it isn't just the what (i.e., whacking the machine with a hammer, or getting a logo for your business) that you're paying for. It's also the how (i.e., how hard to whack the machine and with which hammer, or determining what's the right approach for the logo).
Story taken from this article at the Search Engine Guide.