Comments on: How much should I charge my clients?

By: Kevin

Kevin — Thu, 14 May 2009 14:05:57 +0000

@Baldchemist Great points

By: The Baldchmemist

The Baldchmemist — Sun, 10 May 2009 10:50:32 +0000

You know, he pain in the arse factor exists because you tell yourself that your client is a pain.
While they are talking they are buying! To avoid the pain in the arse make sure that your clients questions are answered before you begin.
Problems exist because YOU havent done your job right when you pitched!
You were probably shit scared of losing the business so you kept evrything to the basics and the cost accordingly.
Dont assume that your client has the knowledge that they assume you have!
The reason they become a pain in the arse is usually because of your incompetence. Face it! In regard to how much to charge then you have a good guide layed out here. Just remember they come to you because either they dont know how or they want to get on with what they do best … which is usually sales, orders, attracting new clients and or investors.
Other than that no one should be working for themselves for less than 120 Euros an hour.
Buying equipment programmes maintenance etc cost. If your client is worth his salt they understand that great work, and make sure it is great work , costs.
Good luck, just get as much joy as you can everyday. People love the happy and succesful.
A

By: Ben Anderson WT

Ben Anderson WT — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 17:24:50 +0000

Nice post.

By: George Barr

George Barr — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 17:11:52 +0000

Hi,

Some very interesting points. But the size of the project should be considered. If you have a project that will only take 30 hours compared with a 6 months project, some form of price break should be used to entice potential long term projects. Better to work on a consistent 6 months project (guaranted income) that bits and bobs over the 6 months.

regards
George

By: Branson Computer Repair

Branson Computer Repair — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:16:19 +0000

Thanks! As a new freelancer, I’m constantly looking for methods to reduce overhead and increase profits – without jacking up the price of my projects.
The first couple of sites I took on were pretty good-sized projects and I really under-bid and ended up loosing money.
Salary.com rocks! From now on, I’ll divide up my annual slary by 12 (one good project a month) to determine what I need from each one.
Thanks!

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 12:16:52 +0000

Good article. I struggle constantly with prices. One of my current clients owes me well over a million for PIA factor at this stage.

By: Melek

Melek — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:20:49 +0000

yes, the PIA factor is a good one to remember. too bad the client doesn’t tell you up front “hey, i’m gonna be a pain to work with”

good article. i think i need to give myself a raise. maybe that should be your next topic. how to gently tell your old clients (without losing them) that your rates are going up.

By: Kevin Boss

Kevin Boss — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:24:01 +0000

Thanks!

You forgot the “pain in the ass” factor

By: Tracey Grady

Tracey Grady — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 03:12:43 +0000

Good article, Kevin. What a shame that salary.com only offers its service to people located within the US.

I tend to use an hourly rate, which changes depending on the size and nature of the job. I use a formula I got from the blueflavor blog, which is as follows:

Task x Time(Complexity x Effort) x Rate = Price

Where Task represents the number of times you have to do something; Time(Complexity x Effort) represents the number of hours (Effort) multiplied by how demanding the work is (Complexity); and Rate is hourly rate. I find this works well for me.