Frequently Asked Questions
The following are common questions asked about the business. You may either
click on individual questions to read a specific response, or scroll down the
page to read all the responses. Note that questions regarding the imaging
software are addressed separately in a comprehensive paper titled "The Role of
Software in the Business". A link to the paper is provided at the Information
Center. It's often helpful to read the responses
below first, but click here if you would like to read
the paper now.
Question List
- Where is the business offered?
- How much are the start-up costs?
- What are the ongoing costs after start-up?
- What is my income potential?
- Can homeowners do visualization themselves?
- How do the protected territories work?
- Why do I need a business package versus software?
- How do I get started?
More questions? Contact IdeaVision and
we'll be glad to respond.
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2017 IdeaVision, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Last update:
11/28/17
- Where is the business offered?
The
business is currently offered in the United States and Canada. IdeaVision
provides extensive support services with the business (training, business
consulting, start-up assistance, etc.) that is available only in the US and
Canada at this time. Since the price of the business includes these items, it
is not appropriate to sell the business without providing a full level of
support.
However, our future plans do include international expansion.
If you would like to be notified at a future date when the business is extended to
your area,
contact IdeaVision with your location information
so that we can get in touch with you.
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- How much are the start-up costs?
Your
primary investment in the business includes the license fee ($12,400), plus any
new computer equipment or upgrades that are needed. Refer to
Financing for information on funding the business,
including a payment plan available from IdeaVision.
You can start on a
shoestring expense budget if necessary. However, an extra $1000 - $2000 is
recommended for kicking off your advertising efforts, communication services
such as a business phone line, and stocking up on office supplies.
You should also include the travel cost for training in your budget. Training
can be done at IdeaVision in the Orlando, FL area or at your location, whichever
you prefer. You are responsible for the costs of either your own travel or for a
representative of IdeaVision to visit you. Travel costs typically include
airfare, rental car, hotel and meals for the two-day session. Scheduling is done
to minimize travel costs and to accommodate your own schedule as much as
possible, including weekends if that works out best. Note that time and
materials for training are covered in the license itself.
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- What are the ongoing costs after
start-up?
One of the advantages of this business is that the operational costs
are relatively low. The license doesn't impose any ongoing royalty or other
fees that franchises require. After
start-up, plan on operating expenses of $500 / month if you work at home. Your
primary operating expense is advertising. Thus, your monthly expense may vary
some depending on your current advertising campaign. Regardless, you have a lot
of flexibility over the amount that you spend and when you choose to spend it.
Ongoing business development is another important benefit of your license.
Enhancements are done frequently covering both business operational items (such
as new marketing materials) and the technical aspects of the business (i.e.
upgrades to the imaging system). Multiple upgrades are done on a yearly basis,
based on inputs provided by the business owners. The license defines that all
enhancements are included for the first year. However, as an expression of
appreciation to our owners, all enhancements have been provided thus far without
charge after the first year as well. At some point, a modest annual fee may be
required to cover the cost. The fee is not expected to be of a significant
nature though and purchase of any enhancement will be optional.
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- What is my income potential?
The
return from any business opportunity is dependent upon many factors, including
in large part the business capability of the proprietor. As such, IdeaVision's
policy is to not make generic income claims. Instead, we work closely with each
prospective owner to help them make an independent assessment of the business potential
for their specific situation before any investment is made. The following is
provided to give you a feel for the possibilities, but is not meant to guarantee
expected results for any particular business.
A Visionair Builder
based business is operated as a professional consulting service, specializing in
computer visualization. As a consultant, operating expenses are low ($500 /
month on average if you work at home) and sales are mostly profit. In the true
sense, the biggest "expense" is your time. Thus, projects are
typically priced based on the time required to complete a project. Our pricing
strategy, which is detailed in the business plan, recommends a return of $75 /
hour for your time as a starting point. You may decide to charge more or less
in your particular market, but $75 / hour is relatively low for a
professional service in general. Since there are other factors that influence pricing,
clients are only given a bottom line price without the hour information.
For
example, a typical project requires 4-6 hours to complete (a visualization of
the front view for an
average home). The project provides $300 - $450 of income for your
business at $75 / hour. This figure may be
adjusted up or down based on your long-term business objectives for a particular
client. Projects range from an hour to several days depending on complexity.
Customer imaging sessions, photographic prints and other special services
provide additional income opportunities. You should set aside 20% of your total
work hours for marketing and administrative activities that are not billed.
As
you can see, it's important to market the business properly and fill your time
with projects to obtain the maximum return from your business. The more time
you put into the business, the greater the return. Thus, the final result does
depend on you, but IdeaVision provides the tools and support that are necessary to help
you meet your objectives.
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- Can homeowners do visualization
themselves?
The average homeowner is unable to do meaningful
visualization for two reasons: poor tools and lack of imaging
knowledge.
Consumer level home design software is available in many computer stores.
This inexpensive software is intended for people who don't have a background in
either graphics or imaging and want to do basic visualization for their personal
use only. The products are typically designed with a laundry list of features to
make them seem more appealing. However, in order to keep the price low,
shortcuts are taken to provide a minimal implementation of these features. The
result is poor quality visuals, often crude representations that are of little
value to the user.
Secondly, and just as importantly, visualization requires specialized imaging
skills and knowledge to do anything but the most basic projects. A process is
involved that encompasses many different aspects of digital imaging. This
knowledge is attainable by people who want to devote their effort to doing the
business on a professional basis, such as the Visionair Builder business owners.
However, it's certainly not something that a typical homeowner is going to take
on, nor have the time for, just to do a personal project.
The end result is that most homeowners don't get very far on
their own. The software is typically used once or twice until frustration sets
in. On the positive side,
more and more people are becoming exposed to visualization and its many
benefits. This exposure provides a rapidly expanding customer base for
our visualization services.
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- How do the protected territories work?
A protected territory is included in your license to give you a specific area
where no other business locations will be established other than your own. The
territory is typically defined by city, county, highway and/or geographic
boundaries, and must include the location for your place of business. The size
of the territory is based on population density, ranging from 200,000 (less
populated areas) to 400,000 (metro areas). The license provides you with one
business location and its associated territory. A larger territory or second
location for conducting business may also be purchased.
Note that the primary focus of your marketing should be within your territory. However, in a
business of this nature you may meet a prospective client anywhere, including in
your travels outside the territory. Referrals are also common to prospects who
reside in a different location. The license doesn't preclude you from taking on
these clients because they are a result of your efforts. Thus, you have the best
of both worlds. You know that another business won't be located too close to
yours, plus you don't have to turn away business that does originate outside of
your territory.
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- Why do I need a business package versus software?
It's the same reason that you don't become an
accountant by purchasing accounting software or start a restaurant by purchasing
grills. A frequent mistake made by
first-time entrepreneurs is the tendency to focus on tangible and familiar
things (equipment and tools such as software), while paying less attention to
business fundamentals that are far more important to the business results. It's
important to understand that software is only a tool, not a business solution.
A business, on the other hand, is a comprehensive activity
for delivering products or services to the customer based on a defined business
process. The development of this process is a major undertaking. An in-depth
evaluation of the marketplace must be done first in order to understand its
needs. Product or service development is then done to meet the needs. Extensive
market testing follows to determine
how well the product or service actually satisfies the needs. Automation tools
such as software are addressed relatively late in the process, only after the
service is well defined. The business needs drive the tools, not the other way
around. The net result is that an
effective business process requires years of effort and major capital investment
before it is ready to implement.
Most individuals do not have the time,
money or knowledge to take on such an endeavor. The solution is to buy a defined
business package such as the Visionair Builder where all of the development work
has been done for you. A business package provides you with an opportunity to start
the business for a fraction of the investment that is otherwise required. The
critical ins and outs of the business process are brought to you through market
evaluation guides, business plans, customized tools, training and consulting support.
It's this end-to-end solution that makes the business feasible, not just the
software and other tools that are used in the business.
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