Insulate For Income

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If you stress the amount of material you'll put into a customer's attic—and are very knowledgeable about your insulation's R-factor properties—you'll more than likely land lots of contracts!

JOB ESTIMATES

Before you can give an estimate on an attic insulation job, you'll have to determine the area of the surface to be insulated. To do this, simply multiply the attic floor's length by its width. (I've found that letting a prospective customer help with this task will often boost my chance of making a sale.)

Your supplier can give you an idea of how much material you'll need to fill an attic 4, 6, 8, or 10 inches deep. This infor. mation is also stamped on bags of highquality cellulose (which is the only kind you should ever use). For example, the manufacturer will Rate that- to achieve a heavy 4inch fill-you'll need 30 bags for every 1,000 square feet.

Assume the sacks cost $5.00 each. Your material cost-for our sample 1,000-square-foot attic-will be $5.00 times 30 bags, or $150.You can then decide how much profit you need to make on the job and add that amount to your costs. If you want to make a $100 profit, add $130 or $140 ... the extra money will pay your helper's salary.

Always quote the full price: "I can do the job for $280." Don't break your job bid down to separate your material costs from your wages. Also, besides giving an oral estimate, you might want to hand your potential customer a written bid, which should note exactly how many bags of insulation will be put into the attic ... the weight of the insulation (fifty 30-pound bags will be 1,500 pounds) ... how deep the material will be ... and perhaps how much the job will cost per square foot of area to be insulated.

A GOOD SUPPLIER

Your suppliers-these will generally be lumber-yards or farm supply storesare of paramount importance to your business success. Such men and women make their money from the sale of mate rials, so-if you can offer an order for, say, 50 bags of cellulose-you shouldn't have much trouble getting a 10% discount, as well as the use of the company's blowing machine. (Some firms may be less eager to lend the "blower" to you if they know that you're in the insulation business, but a little shopping around will turn up a supplier who—like minewill be glad to cooperate.) Many stores will also allow you to pay for the bags of insulation after you've collected your money from the customer. And others might even set up a charge account payable on a monthly basis.

As your enterprise develops, you may well want to purchase your own insulating machine or perhaps buy your cellulose direct from a manufacturer. However, while you're still "testing the water", your supplier can be the steppingstone to bigger and better things.

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