StudioRendering

I have worked (in the capacity of sales executive among many other titles) for a few firms prior to starting, everyone has their own fees that they associate with their work.

As for paying employees, it is based on experience. I typically start a full time employees out of school with an arch degree at 30k. In rare cases if they have interned then it would be 36k (it is often difficult to manage this if you are a startup, hire college part-timers for a while to get yourself going)

While I have to say, I think it is great you guys are starting up your own - it is very difficult to make a good living if you haven't established yourself with great images.

My firm charges per image (which is not the best way) we will rework the image till the client is satisfied with it. for big builders we would generally do a single family for $150, for smaller companies we would get to about $600. We have had some images which were done for 6-7k an image as well. But when you get an order for an image for that much an architect will demand your heart soul and sleep for the price.

Remember, what you charge is relevant to your work compared to what everyone else is offering (you will hear this alot). how much it cost you to output for the month - I sometimes have to take orders at a loss to fill my artists day so that they are not spinning in the chair. I have also been fortunate to have great investors to back me during the rough times (which are often now)