System Houses

A system house is a business that has reduced every aspect of that business to a science. Every possible avenue of making a profit is explored. Little attention is paid to what other businesses are charging for the same product or service. What matters is knowing the limits of human tolerance to pay a premium on goods or services. Here, a premium is paid to advertisers. This gives the business a steady flow of new customers. The businesses reputation under these circumstances is not what drives business. It is advertising. It is not uncommon that a plumbing company might spend $50 per customer in advertising costs. A system house works best when it is providing an emergency service such as plumbing or electrical. Customers are willing to pay outlandish prices when they need something now. System house practices are ethically questionable because they gouge the customer with prices an ordinarily unhurried homeowner would not pay if given time to pick and choose a tradesman. There are precedents in law and social custom concerning gouging such as lumber yards gouging homeowners who are facing a hurricane. They need plywood to board up their houses. The cost of a sheet of plywood might be $40. But, with a storm approaching a gouging lumber yard might get $200 a sheet.

SHS-1 System Houses. An example of such a business is one that charges two to three times the normally high price of service. If the high end for plumbers is $150 an hour*, the system house will charge from $300 an hour to $450 an hour. The hourly rate is not reveled up front in most cases. Instead, prices are quoted from a list of charges that have been carefully considered in advance. Key to the operation of a system house is maintaining a professional appearance. Every single detail of appearances is taken care of. This extends to tradesmen putting on shoe coverings when walking through the client's house. Every protocol is followed and every work spoken is made with decorum. Here the client has no complaint that any indiscretion has occurred. The work is above average and the system house SHS-1 delivers work to the client to their expectation or above their expectations.

*Note: Average costs for professional plumbers run less than $100 an hour.

SHS-2 System Houses. Similar to the above description except that fraud and deception play an important role in doing business. Clients who are not savvy are charged more than other clients. While the charge book might list putting installing a facet at $450 labor, the unsavvy client might end up paying $600 labor.