Hi Jan, Based on my experience with many business owners I can tell you that people are split fairly equally with regards to entering info into the software onsite or entering it later.
Also, business owners have different ways to set their pricing. There are no hard rules here, just what you feel works best for you. I would caution you on fixed pricing based on square footage or room because homes can vary widely with how much stuff is packed into the space.
Starting out I suggest a pricing model based on time. If you find it takes a while onsite you can always add an additional charge for report preparation and so you can keep your hourly rate reasonable.
If you set some standards going in with regards to items you'll do as group entries you can save a ton of time.... items such as linens, clothes, DVDs etc.... Just ask the client if there are any high value items that should be done individually.
It seems that a lot of you are entering your inventory information into the system at home rather than onsite. I can understand why, it can be very time consuming, and I am very sensitive about how much of the client's time is necessary for this process.
Has this also driven how you price? I am leaning towards pricing by sq footage or by room rather than time since it appears a fairly standard size home can take a substantial amount of time.
I am in the start up stages and hope to start doing homes in the next 2-3 weeks.
