All, I don't have much more to add, except for some reinforcement of already stated ideas. My mother and step-father have been running very successful engineering consulting firms out of their house for years, and their advice to me has echoed what the folks on this list have said:
1) Never underbid. You devalue yourself in the eyes of the market. (To drive this home, a story about a family friend who owned a winery: he was having trouble with sales, despite consistently winning competitions. He raised his price about 35%, and sales went through the roof.) 2) Bill one hourly rate. Estimates of total job price should be based on the number of hours you anticipate. This way, if the client asks for extra, you simply estimate the extra number of hours, and they pay for that. If it's a total job quote that is not explicitly based (i.e., noted in the contract) on the number of hours, it makes it a lot harder to estimate add-ons. 3) Everything in writing up front, as detailed as possible. 4) Bill for the work you do. If you quote 35 hours, bill 22 if you work 22 and 39 if you work 39. It's usually a good idea to include something that says: "will not go over unless client is first notified". See exception in number 6, below. 5) One sales technique is to provide the client with a menu. As you all know, "getting the job done" can mean a dozen different things for one set of specifications. For example, a simple web form might be made to work, but adding JavaScript utilities that make keyboard navigation easier might up the value of the tool. So, you say, "x hours will get you the basic form, but x+4 hours will get you these other features". This can be tricky, though. 6) For those of you starting out: if you are worried that your rate sounds too high, or that your overall job price is too stiff, don't worry: you can lie! What do I mean? Let's say that you have decent skills, but you are on your first job out and feel nervous charging $1000 (20 hours at $50/hr) for a project because you aren't positive you can deliver the quality you want to deliver in the hours you've laid out. You can just work overtime for free, but tell them that you did it in the 20 hours. You take the hit in the short run, but as you gain experience and confidence, that goes away, and you don't have to deal with changing your rate over time. And if it takes you 60 hours (barring any truly giant problems that pop up), you will have learned better estimating skills! HTH, Matthieu ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Logware (www.logware.us): a new and convenient web-based time tracking application. Start tracking and documenting hours spent on a project or with a client with Logware today. Try it for free with a 15 day trial account. http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=67 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:4:227931 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/4 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:4 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.4 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
