It seems such a short time ago that I was writing about the cool weather and its already starting to warm up again….it’s only May and already 37 degrees C during the day!! I am devastated…I do hope this does not mean a long hot summer….it will be my 16th and I am already over it!
My three projects are finally winding up with just a few touch-ups to be completed before I can pull the teams off site and invoice all the clients…now the hard work starts…getting paid! It is usually quite a process with the most incredible amount of paperwork involved in order to reach the point where a cheque is issued and I can deposit it into my bank account. Before we leave site I require an approval from the consultant or architect (they have to sign off on the work we have done) I then submit that to the main contractor who will issue me with a certificate of completion (to confirm that we have indeed completed the work). All of this then accompanies my invoice along with an O and M manual (which basically instructs the hotel/owner of the villa how to maintain the decorative finish we have just applied to the walls) and a guarantee which is usually for as period of three to five years.
Once all of these bits of paper have been submitted, I then have to wait a minimum of 30 days and sometimes longer to finally get my money!
Is it worth it you ask? I am not that sure any more….I try and execute two or three really large projects a year and intersperse them with smaller projects which can be completed really quickly and also pay quickly and this usually keeps our cash flow healthy. We become unstuck when we have back to back large projects and they all delay payment!!
At the moment I am doing a large designer pot project for a luxury hotel in Downtown Dubai. These pots are unique in that they are made of fiberglass and then we apply a painted finish to the finished atricle. I will be visiting the site within the next couple of weeks to take photos of the end result which will be great I am sure.
My next big project is about 600 designer pots for a huge residential project in Saudi Arabia…the best part of it is that I can actually do all of the pots in our warehouse and simply have them all delivered. We will have to produce about 50 per month in order to meet our deadline so I am going to be hard at work for the next 8-9 months!
A Decorator's Notebook 