The Framers Forum

Hi Folks

I have just downloaded the Estlite program and it looks pretty awesome.

Are there any changes that you would recommend making to the default setup?

My understanding is that Estlite has prices ready to use out of the box - is there anything I should look closer at?

Thanks

David

Hi David,

You are right, in order not to be starting out with a completely “blank canvas”, the program comes pre-loaded with settings that yield industry average prices.

Many users make few changes if any to the out-of-the-box settings. However, I recommend that you should examine the prices that EstLite is charging for each frame element and ensure that they are right for your particular business bearing in mind things like - your location, the competition, what the market will bear, operating expenses, etc.

Bottom line
Look on the out-of-the-box settings as a guide. Their purpose is to prevent you from ridiculously undercharging for your services

Hi John

Thanks very much, I'll look at each element and adjust accordingly.

Much appreciated

David

I used it pretty much as it came for the first year, until I knew what my actual annual overheads were, what my hourly rate should be and what I needed to charge for each element of the job.
When I seriously updated it, I think my prices rose by about 15-20%, but by then so had my confidence to charge more.

Thanks for the input, appreciate it.

Yes, you are right, it is pretty awesome. I have lost track of how long we have relied on it.
You will want to set your own pricing. Obviously the default pricing is going to make sure you don't make a loss on a job. But don't leave money on the table, if you can get more then charge more.
John has done a brilliant job with this software, it;'s a great tool. But like all tools it's up to you how you use it.
It paid off from day one many years ago with us, because when a computer gives a price people don't argue.
Very user friendly piece of software, take your time, nudge up your glass and mat prices first, and if less than 3 out of 10 people don't walk away when you give them a price then you are too cheap.
It is also very easily understood by staff, and customers. Very intuitive.

Other opinions are available. I've only been doling this 26 years.

Is there a way to change it back to the default settings?

Yes Jay. Just uninstall the program and re-install.

However, if you also wish to retain your Customer and Job data, then we would be in uncharted waters as this has never been requested before and I've never had the need to do it myself. But I think it should be easy enough, and if you don't mind being the guinea pig I'll talk you through the steps required.

Happy to be your Guinea Pig John as long as you realise I'm a bit of a technophobe, so you may live to regret the offer!! Would this mean I could also delete duplicate/dead customers? ( both dead dead, and dead, never going to see them again for various reasons ) I feel my Estlite has become cluttered and I need to look at re-setting my prices again. Despite having had the programme for years, I'm still guessing a lot of things. It's also been behaving a bit 'weird' since I last updated. Spent last night reading a link on the Forum re pricing, and feel this is the time (actually, lockdown probably was) for me to get myself properly sorted as I'm very likely losing money, and I'm not confident that my prices are consistent as soon as I veer off the standard type job. Having said all that, I'm slightly terrified of losing my customer data as happened when I entrusted a computer 'expert' to change my OS and he managed to lose a chunk of data.

How to revert to original EstLite settings while retaining your Customers and Jobs

The phrase "a bit of a technophobe" means different things to different people, so I'm going to just outline the steps and if there is anything here that you are unsure about then please go no further.

1. Do an EstLite backup and take note of where the zip file is saved
2. Open the EstLite settings area - while in EstLite home screen Alt-H opens file explorer window at C:\ProgramData\Est
3. Copy the Data folder to your desktop
4. Uninstall EstLite then download and install the latest version from the website https://estlite.com/download.php
5. Move the Data folder from the desktop to the EstLite settings area overwriting the existing folder

If you do not feel confident about carrying out any of these steps then DO NOT PROCEED

Thanks John. Well if I was a tad hesitant before.... now I'm terrified!! Hey, what's the worst that could happen? I assume the answer is losing all my customer data. I do have paper copies of invoices, but it's obviously much quicker referring back on my computer than going into the loft. I do surprise myself sometimes at what I end up managing to figure out.... usually, no idea how to replicate though. Will give it some thought.... or get help, but my main techie pal is a Mac man.