Hey there. Welcome back to Elevated. I'm Brandy Lawson, and today we're talking money, specifically how to figure out if that shiny new design software is actually worth your hard earned cash. But here's the thing. Most kitchen and bath firms, and really most businesses are making these decisions based on sticker price alone. I've witnessed owners struggle with whether to upgrade software. Most fixate on the price tag until we map out how much time designers spend working around their current system. In some cases, they were burning nearly$30,000 in billable hours annually, just compensating for their hmm, crappy software. Ouch. Today we're looking at the real math behind software investment. Let's calculate the true return that goes way beyond the price tag. In the last episode, we talked about figuring out the true cost of implementing new software. Now we'll look at the benefits side of the equation. Start with the quantifiable gains. Time savings. How many hours per project will this save? And at what billable rate? Next, error reduction. What's the cost of mistakes this software prevents? Then look at capacity increase. How many more projects can you handle with the same staff? For example, if new software saved designers approximately six hours per project on specifications and renderings with 45 projects annually, and designers billing at$125 an hour. That's over$33,000 in recovered productive time each year. And that's without assuming growth of projects per designer or additional designers. But don't stop at the obvious. What about the less tangible benefits? Better visualization software can increase your sales close rate, improve project management, can boost client satisfaction and referrals. More accurate estimating tools can protect your margins. Let me walk you through a quick ROI calculation for a real kitchen and bath scenario. Let's say you're considering new design software at$3,600 annually for three users. Implementation will take about 30 hours of designer time at$125 an hour, and 10 hours of admin time at$60 an hour. That's 43 50 in implementation costs. On the benefits side, the software reduces specification time by two hours per project with 35 projects yearly. That's 70 hours saved annually at$125 an hour. Or 87 50 in recovered time. Additionally, the software's more accurate. Renderings help you close three more projects annually at an average profit of$4,000 each. That's another$12,000. Year one ROI calculation costs$3,600 for the software, plus 43 50 for implementation equals$7,950. So there's your cost. Benefits 87 50 in time savings plus$12,000 in additional projects equals 20,750. No, your net first year return,$12,800. That's 161% ROI. In subsequent years without implementation costs, your return jumps to over 575%. So ready to crunch your own numbers. Head to fire effects.com/choose. To download the worksheet. Remember, the goal isn't just to justify a purchase you already want to make. It's to objectively evaluate whether this investment truly moves your business forward. Sometimes the best ROI comes from investing in your existing systems and team, rather than adding something new. Next week, we'll explore these hidden benefits that don't always show up in ROI calculations, but can transform your business nonetheless. If today's episode helped you think differently about software costs, hit that subscribe button and share it with a fellow design professional who's wrestling with software decisions.