Jason Goldman
Member
My theatre is beginning the process of renting out our scene shop as an additional revenue source. It works well in many ways, but my concern is that we are having trouble developing policy that handles small expendables.
Currently we stock fresh lumber and steel, and as a client removes items from the shelf, they track and pay for those items. The problem comes in when we look at screws, staples, glue, paint, etc.
Most shops I have worked in buy these items in quantity so I'm paying $100 for a bulk box of screws, but who should end up paying for it???
At the moment, our policy is:
1) If it's opened, you may use it
2) if it's sealed, you must purchase it (or you can go to the store and get your own, you're paying for convenience)
3) if you purchase it, you may take it with you at the end of your project, but if you choose not to... any item left behind we own.
This creates 2 major problems:
First, pricing is arbitrary in that 25-30 renters can come through and then one day someone is hit with a $120 box of screws. This policy gets even more troublesome when talking about paint since it's real easy for a selfish client to use up only opened containers leaving our stock low at all times. All it takes is one sly client to deplete a good deal of the "shared items" leaving the next unlucky guy to pick up the financial slack.
Second, this policy means my shop is understocked at most times. Anything we purchase for our own builds becomes something that another client can take from us, and we may not know it until we walk in the door for our build. It's a hard hit on efficiency...
I'd like input from those who have rented out their scene shops in the past as to what policies worked well for you when it came to expendables and incidentals. If you have an old rental agreement you'd like to share... even better.
I'm sure there's a better way, I just need to find it.
Currently we stock fresh lumber and steel, and as a client removes items from the shelf, they track and pay for those items. The problem comes in when we look at screws, staples, glue, paint, etc.
Most shops I have worked in buy these items in quantity so I'm paying $100 for a bulk box of screws, but who should end up paying for it???
At the moment, our policy is:
1) If it's opened, you may use it
2) if it's sealed, you must purchase it (or you can go to the store and get your own, you're paying for convenience)
3) if you purchase it, you may take it with you at the end of your project, but if you choose not to... any item left behind we own.
This creates 2 major problems:
First, pricing is arbitrary in that 25-30 renters can come through and then one day someone is hit with a $120 box of screws. This policy gets even more troublesome when talking about paint since it's real easy for a selfish client to use up only opened containers leaving our stock low at all times. All it takes is one sly client to deplete a good deal of the "shared items" leaving the next unlucky guy to pick up the financial slack.
Second, this policy means my shop is understocked at most times. Anything we purchase for our own builds becomes something that another client can take from us, and we may not know it until we walk in the door for our build. It's a hard hit on efficiency...
I'd like input from those who have rented out their scene shops in the past as to what policies worked well for you when it came to expendables and incidentals. If you have an old rental agreement you'd like to share... even better.
I'm sure there's a better way, I just need to find it.