I am an architect and came in here looking for a reference to refer my clients to. Seems that everyone is so concentrated on the all mighty dollar that "servicing the client" or "receiving referal" business might be out of the question to mention. Not all jobs can be 400,000 s.f. yet the smaller ones can be profitable. The low bid is not always the winning bid, some jobs are not bid at all, referal is as good as gold. As in the construction trades, it seems that the concentrated focus of your industry is "fast cash" and a " respectable fee for a respectable job" is rarely considered.

Maybe the small guys you are complaining about might have a better work ethic, and soon pass you up with their great serviceability. Too bad Cody who consideres all of the aspects of the job to prepare his bids is not in my area, he would get a great referal to many affluent client. Too bad some of you guys who are in my area don't seem more reputable. I will find a referal elsewhere.

In business, focus on what it cost you to produce and provide your service and not on what the other guy is pricing at. Something I learned from our local SCORE center when I was the small guy in town ( www.score.org). Underpricing his service will soon lead him to close his doors.

One bit of advice, you never know who your audience is, and never put anything so "greedy" into written text on the internet unless you understand the true message that is getting to the end user.

Good luck

landarch