Having worked both in a manufacturing and service industry, I have realised they their advantages and disadvantages and depending on your background or person, you might be more inclined towards one than the other.

Today I would be sharing my personal experience about a common misconception I have noticed in the service industry. Having worked as a Designer (Architect) and a Business Consultant which are both service oriented, I have realised that people generally do not appreciate intellectual property and are unwilling to pay the professional fees associated with this service. While my experience might not be generalisable, I have noticed that it is gradually becoming a common trend and would like to seek other peoples opinion about it.

One of the most common difference between the service and manufacturing industry is the product tangibility. While the output of the manufacturing companies is tangible, that of the service industry is intangible or at most "semi-tangible”. It is amazing how most people are not willing to pay for intellectual properties while the same people would go ahead and pay for the product produced as a result of the intellectual properties.

Using the design industry as a case study - I have not and would not understand how clients find it difficult to pay for designs but are willing to pay for implementation. Using the Nigerian environment as an example (I am familiar with this), people are not ready to pay the architect for the design of a building but are willing to pay the builders, contractors and project managers for the construction. Due to the intangible nature of the product, the average Nigerian believes he is being charged heavily for a "drawing on a paper”. It is actually more than the drawing, you are paying for the design i.e. the creativity and the service rendered. It is the same story for the graphics, industrial designers, interior designers and other design field.

Due to this, an awkward / skewed trend is emerging in the design industry whereby designers tend to make their services more tangible. For example, Architects now produce more design sheets and drawings in a bid to convince the client that a lot of work has gone into the design. A design that can be effectively explained with 15 drawings can now be expanded into 48 drawings in other to cajole the clients to pay more.

Another common trend is to transfer the design cost into the implementation cost and hike the cost of implementation. Since most clients would get a tangible product after design implementation, like a house for architecture, products for industrial designs, visuals for graphic designs and furniture for furniture design. Designers now often go beyond design and delve into related "product implementation" fields or partner with existing professionals in that field. Architects now run construction companies, graphics designers now run printing agencies and furniture designers now operate factories. It is not uncommon nowadays to see designers offer free design as long as you sign a contract for them to implement or supervise the implementation of the design. The design cost is often transferred to implementation cost (tangible product) and clients are made to pay more than they should usually have paid.

I believe its high time for us to begin to understand the value of intellectual property and pay for the services rendered. It is a service and not a favour. While the product of service might be intangible, it takes as much effort to come and lot more "brain work” to come out with a good product as the manufacturing industry.

Also, while I have noticed this challenge, I do not have a comprehensive solution to how this can be tackled. Any designer in the house or professionals in the service industry experiencing the same challenge, please feel free to share your experience and how you have tackled this.

Source: http://pencil-imaginations..it/2014/08/the-menace-of-service-industry.html