System design: first cost or operating cost?

[US Iceman]

I lose a lot of business due to cost, but then at a latter stage the customers suffer and has no means to rectify the problems, as by that time they have spent much more than they were quoted as there were a lost of hidden cost which they did not want to see.

I certainly understand and remember what this was like. One way around some of this is to spend some extra time doing "value engineering".

There are usually some ways to keep the costs down, or alternate methods similar to a stepped implementation.

Value engineering takes some time to prepare and usually consists of a phased in approach, or suitable qualifications like ROI through energy savings, lower maintenance, etc.

The other "cheap guys" are just selling initial cost, nothing else. When one of these becomes involved it is always more difficult, since they are just selling on price alone.

In fact, you have to try to convince the owner you are working for them. The issues you raise are generic to the world. This will always happen.

I prefer to play my own game, rather than someone elses. I don't win all of the time, but enough to keep me happy!