RE: Question regarding my first consulting job
Thanks Peter and Richard, I appreciate the feedback. I will look into Freshbooks, looks awesome! Chris -Original Message- From: PETER SHEATS [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, November 13, 2006 3:32 PM To: CF-Talk Subject: RE: Question regarding my first consulting job I stumbled across http://www.freshbooks.com/ not too long ago - looks pretty impressive and helps with the process of billing clients and might help you produce some nice invoices. Peter -Original Message- From: Peterson, Chris [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, November 12, 2006 6:24 PM To: CF-Talk Subject: Question regarding my first consulting job From: Ken [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sun 11/12/2006 5:59 PM To: CF-Talk Subject: Re: GetTempDirectory CFFILE just looking for some advice regarding my first consulting job. A guy I used to work with at my current job now needs some CF help. It involved re-writing his current maintenance database (access DB and a 'guy who knows some CF') I have a public co-hosted server, so I can put development work online. I'm thinking of setting up a subversion server to keep all my code history, and getting my home system setup for local development. I just have a few questions to anyone else doing consulting: a) Rate? I am thinking of charging $60 / hour for development, but I'm really not sure. Will that hamper me later if I need to raise it? Is it too cheap, or too much? I have been doing development now for going on 5 years internally on intranet type apps, and I feel very comfortable doing what my customer is requesting. b) Anyone have quote / invoice templates that look nice? I dont have a company name really, should I come up with something or just put my name on it? c) How should I structure payment? Should I ask for 20% ahead of time, or just wait till completion for payment? d) The customer has had this job on hold (from internal requests) since July 2005. How should I structure development? He has expressed an interest in having the whole thing re-written, as there are many cumbersom things in it (many clicks to do simple things) Should I setup a visual structure first, convert his access DB to SQL? e) Any advice you can give me on getting started with this would be greatly aprpeciated! Chris ~~~ ~| Introducing the Fusion Authority Quarterly Update. 80 pages of hard-hitting, up-to-date ColdFusion information by your peers, delivered to your door four times a year. http://www.fusionauthority.com/quarterly Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Talk/message.cfm/messageid:260302 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.4
Re: Question regarding my first consulting job
Eh.. Access *is* a relational DB? Albeit a desktop one. .. This e-mail is from Reed Exhibitions (Gateway House, 28 The Quadrant, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 1DN, United Kingdom), a division of Reed Business, Registered in England, Number 678540. It contains information which is confidential and may also be privileged. It is for the exclusive use of the intended recipient(s). If you are not the intended recipient(s) please note that any form of distribution, copying or use of this communication or the information in it is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you have received this communication in error please return it to the sender or call our switchboard on +44 (0) 20 89107910. The opinions expressed within this communication are not necessarily those expressed by Reed Exhibitions. Visit our website at http://www.reedexpo.com -Original Message- From: Mark Leder To: CF-Talk Sent: Sun Nov 12 23:38:20 2006 Subject: RE: Question regarding my first consulting job Rate? I am thinking of charging $60 / hour for development Depends where you are. $60 is too low in my estimation, if you're in the US. Should I ask for 20% ahead of time, or just wait till completion for payment? Get minimum 50% up front before you move a mouse. This keeps people from pulling the plug without you getting paid for work already completed. Should I setup a visual structure first Yes, mapping the business process first is always a good idea - clarifies everyone's thinking and eliminates a bunch of rewrites. convert his access DB to SQL? Absolutely, get it out of Access and into a relational db. Thanks, Mark ~| Introducing the Fusion Authority Quarterly Update. 80 pages of hard-hitting, up-to-date ColdFusion information by your peers, delivered to your door four times a year. http://www.fusionauthority.com/quarterly Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Talk/message.cfm/messageid:260146 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.4
Re: Question regarding my first consulting job
I'm in Indianapolis, IN and charge $55.00 per hour for web/database work. A big pitfall is not charging for phone time. I grant all clients a 10 min break. On the first call of the day. after that I bill in 15 min blocks at the full rate. Put it in the contract or you will get inundated with calls. Ask for a single point of contact or your gonna get 2 people with 2 viewpoints and one will be claiming you didn't build what they asked for. ABSOLUTELY ask for 1/2 up front, yes projects do get cut short. IF you put testing pages on your own server bill for the power and Internet fees. Those things are not free and the client knows it. On 11/13/06, Robertson-Ravo, Neil (RX) [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Eh.. Access *is* a relational DB? Albeit a desktop one. .. This e-mail is from Reed Exhibitions (Gateway House, 28 The Quadrant, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 1DN, United Kingdom), a division of Reed Business, Registered in England, Number 678540. It contains information which is confidential and may also be privileged. It is for the exclusive use of the intended recipient(s). If you are not the intended recipient(s) please note that any form of distribution, copying or use of this communication or the information in it is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you have received this communication in error please return it to the sender or call our switchboard on +44 (0) 20 89107910. The opinions expressed within this communication are not necessarily those expressed by Reed Exhibitions. Visit our website at http://www.reedexpo.com -Original Message- From: Mark Leder To: CF-Talk Sent: Sun Nov 12 23:38:20 2006 Subject: RE: Question regarding my first consulting job Rate? I am thinking of charging $60 / hour for development Depends where you are. $60 is too low in my estimation, if you're in the US. Should I ask for 20% ahead of time, or just wait till completion for payment? Get minimum 50% up front before you move a mouse. This keeps people from pulling the plug without you getting paid for work already completed. Should I setup a visual structure first Yes, mapping the business process first is always a good idea - clarifies everyone's thinking and eliminates a bunch of rewrites. convert his access DB to SQL? Absolutely, get it out of Access and into a relational db. Thanks, Mark ~| Introducing the Fusion Authority Quarterly Update. 80 pages of hard-hitting, up-to-date ColdFusion information by your peers, delivered to your door four times a year. http://www.fusionauthority.com/quarterly Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Talk/message.cfm/messageid:260229 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.4
RE: Question regarding my first consulting job
I stumbled across http://www.freshbooks.com/ not too long ago - looks pretty impressive and helps with the process of billing clients and might help you produce some nice invoices. Peter -Original Message- From: Peterson, Chris [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, November 12, 2006 6:24 PM To: CF-Talk Subject: Question regarding my first consulting job From: Ken [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sun 11/12/2006 5:59 PM To: CF-Talk Subject: Re: GetTempDirectory CFFILE just looking for some advice regarding my first consulting job. A guy I used to work with at my current job now needs some CF help. It involved re-writing his current maintenance database (access DB and a 'guy who knows some CF') I have a public co-hosted server, so I can put development work online. I'm thinking of setting up a subversion server to keep all my code history, and getting my home system setup for local development. I just have a few questions to anyone else doing consulting: a) Rate? I am thinking of charging $60 / hour for development, but I'm really not sure. Will that hamper me later if I need to raise it? Is it too cheap, or too much? I have been doing development now for going on 5 years internally on intranet type apps, and I feel very comfortable doing what my customer is requesting. b) Anyone have quote / invoice templates that look nice? I dont have a company name really, should I come up with something or just put my name on it? c) How should I structure payment? Should I ask for 20% ahead of time, or just wait till completion for payment? d) The customer has had this job on hold (from internal requests) since July 2005. How should I structure development? He has expressed an interest in having the whole thing re-written, as there are many cumbersom things in it (many clicks to do simple things) Should I setup a visual structure first, convert his access DB to SQL? e) Any advice you can give me on getting started with this would be greatly aprpeciated! Chris ~~~ ~| Introducing the Fusion Authority Quarterly Update. 80 pages of hard-hitting, up-to-date ColdFusion information by your peers, delivered to your door four times a year. http://www.fusionauthority.com/quarterly Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Talk/message.cfm/messageid:260235 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.4
Question regarding my first consulting job
From: Ken [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sun 11/12/2006 5:59 PM To: CF-Talk Subject: Re: GetTempDirectory CFFILE just looking for some advice regarding my first consulting job. A guy I used to work with at my current job now needs some CF help. It involved re-writing his current maintenance database (access DB and a 'guy who knows some CF') I have a public co-hosted server, so I can put development work online. I'm thinking of setting up a subversion server to keep all my code history, and getting my home system setup for local development. I just have a few questions to anyone else doing consulting: a) Rate? I am thinking of charging $60 / hour for development, but I'm really not sure. Will that hamper me later if I need to raise it? Is it too cheap, or too much? I have been doing development now for going on 5 years internally on intranet type apps, and I feel very comfortable doing what my customer is requesting. b) Anyone have quote / invoice templates that look nice? I dont have a company name really, should I come up with something or just put my name on it? c) How should I structure payment? Should I ask for 20% ahead of time, or just wait till completion for payment? d) The customer has had this job on hold (from internal requests) since July 2005. How should I structure development? He has expressed an interest in having the whole thing re-written, as there are many cumbersom things in it (many clicks to do simple things) Should I setup a visual structure first, convert his access DB to SQL? e) Any advice you can give me on getting started with this would be greatly aprpeciated! Chris ~| Introducing the Fusion Authority Quarterly Update. 80 pages of hard-hitting, up-to-date ColdFusion information by your peers, delivered to your door four times a year. http://www.fusionauthority.com/quarterly Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Talk/message.cfm/messageid:260121 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.4
RE: Question regarding my first consulting job
Rate? I am thinking of charging $60 / hour for development Depends where you are. $60 is too low in my estimation, if you're in the US. Should I ask for 20% ahead of time, or just wait till completion for payment? Get minimum 50% up front before you move a mouse. This keeps people from pulling the plug without you getting paid for work already completed. Should I setup a visual structure first Yes, mapping the business process first is always a good idea - clarifies everyone's thinking and eliminates a bunch of rewrites. convert his access DB to SQL? Absolutely, get it out of Access and into a relational db. Thanks, Mark ~| Introducing the Fusion Authority Quarterly Update. 80 pages of hard-hitting, up-to-date ColdFusion information by your peers, delivered to your door four times a year. http://www.fusionauthority.com/quarterly Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Talk/message.cfm/messageid:260122 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.4
RE: Question regarding my first consulting job
Mark, I am in Michigan. What rate would you think is more appropriate? Also, do you have any advice as to accounting for hours? Should I use 1/2 hour increments or 15 minute? Thanks a ton for your reply! Chris -Original Message- From: Mark Leder [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sun 11/12/2006 6:38 PM To: CF-Talk Subject: RE: Question regarding my first consulting job Rate? I am thinking of charging $60 / hour for development Depends where you are. $60 is too low in my estimation, if you're in the US. Should I ask for 20% ahead of time, or just wait till completion for payment? Get minimum 50% up front before you move a mouse. This keeps people from pulling the plug without you getting paid for work already completed. Should I setup a visual structure first Yes, mapping the business process first is always a good idea - clarifies everyone's thinking and eliminates a bunch of rewrites. convert his access DB to SQL? Absolutely, get it out of Access and into a relational db. Thanks, Mark ~| Introducing the Fusion Authority Quarterly Update. 80 pages of hard-hitting, up-to-date ColdFusion information by your peers, delivered to your door four times a year. http://www.fusionauthority.com/quarterly Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Talk/message.cfm/messageid:260124 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.4
