Billing and side jobs...

Got a call from a friend of mine the other day... has a client who purchased a 2003 Server box and a couple client machines and wanted someone MS certified to put it all together. I turned it down mostly because it's nearly an hour away and I didnt want to have to support it (the client says he doesnt know a whole lot about computers.... YIKES!). He had gotten a quote for $80/hr and wanted to know if I could lowball it. I had bounced around $50/hr minimum 8 hrs for the job, considering the travel time.

To continue... I had a user at work ask me to transfer his files from his old laptop to a new one. I started it using File and Settings Transfer Wizard, then disappeared to do my usual duties. I came back, spent 15 more minutes on it completing the xfer (had to go to a USB hard drive.... tried a crossover cable but the old machine's NIC was chattering like mad). I asked $50, he paid $60 then asked if I would set up his home for wireless access. I'm thinking $75/hr. One of the other techs says he charges $100/hr for offsite work just so that they won't keep asking him to come back for every little issue. This particular user is the GM for a resort here (I work for a Fortune 500 timeshare company).

Am I asking too much? A+, N+, MCP... Hmm...... What is everyone else charging? For spyware removal it's $50 also...

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Comments

Webmaster

How much time do you think you will spend on it? I would probably make a fixed price for the entire job if it were just a couple of hours. I'd also take in consideration the type of products the gm wants to use. The more advanced, the more knowledge you need to have to implement it optimal, the more expensive you become. I do think it is better to go a bit too high than too low.

lazyart

Too soon to say how long it will take and what equipment... He is waiting to close a new house. I have no idea what size, how much coverage he is looking for-- which is why I am leaning toward an hourly rate.

As for equipment-- his laptop is b/g enabled, so I'll likely go with a Netgear package. It doesn't seem like anything fancy other than a secure setup would be necessary. He will access the company network via VPN so I'm not concerned with the security issue there.

Webmaster

Well if you do go for an hourly rate, I don't think, in this case, your certifications (or the lack of) should dictate your rates. If you know you can do a good job you should charge as much as reasonably possible. I don't know about the average rates in Florida (I hope to learn more about that next year though...), but I do know a lot of people who did similar contract jobs and the most common mistake is to charge too little, while the company or person who hired them often expected to pay more. Some said it just didn't feel good to charge such high rates (while they had the expertise to do it and still be appreciated). I got some business advice once for a completely different type of business, but I think it applies here as well: "if the buyer agrees to the price immediately, you didn't charge him enough."

Of course, it is important not to cross the line, as you do want him to ask you again...

lazyart

Webmaster wrote:

Well if you do go for an hourly rate, I don't think, in this case, your certifications (or the lack of) should dictate your rates. If you know you can do a good job you should charge as much as reasonably possible. I don't know about the average rates in Florida (I hope to learn more about that next year though...), but I do know a lot of people who did similar contract jobs and the most common mistake is to charge too little, while the company or person who hired them often expected to pay more. Some said it just didn't feel good to charge such high rates (while they had the expertise to do it and still be appreciated). I got some business advice once for a completely different type of business, but I think it applies here as well: "if the buyer agrees to the price immediately, you didn't charge him enough."

I instantly thought the same thing when he paid me more than I asked for the data transfer. Accepting money had been an issue in the past and it really boils down to my own perception of work versus the client's... All I "did" was run a simple program in Windows. But to the user, what I "did" was move all his important data over and free him of the worry of losing it all.

This weekend I have to go to my girlfriend's millionaire brother's house to a) repair his wife's spyware-ridden machine and more importantly b) recover her doctorate dissertation. This will be interesting because she already told me he expects to fully compensate me for my time.

BulletToothTony

If anything charging a rate of $50/hr will put people on their feet about spyware. Usually when I am asked to do some side work like that I stick to $20/hr. Sometimes depending on the person (if they are over my shoulder the whole time), I will bump it up to $30. I have never asked more than that, because I feel guilty taking someone elses money for such an easy task. With Spyware, I always go in with the anticipation that I am going to spend at least ten minutes loading ad-aware and spybot, then the first couple of runs are going to have to be stopped before they freeze, delete and then start over again.

But if this guy has the money and you have the ability to make it, go for it. After all, its your time, and if he didn't want to part with the money, he would figure out how to remove spy/adware and set up a wifi net himself.

Have fun

lazyart

BulletToothTony wrote:

I have never asked more than that, because I feel guilty taking someone elses money for such an easy task.

That is the exact feeling I am trying to get away from. Easy to us isn't necessarily easy to others. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and so is value. How many hours and hours have you put in to amass the knowledge you now have? "Easy" is relative.

Besides, knowledge is power and while stupidity isn't painful, ignorance will cost you a bit in this world.

If someone else is charging $75+/hr for onsite work, why shouldnt I? I feel I am qualified. The certs should give the client the same feeling...

BulletToothTony

Thats the number one problem I have, is I keep forgetting what is easy to us, is not easy to everyone. Whenever I hear somebody complain about pc annoyances such as spyware/adware, I always wonder why they don't just download ad-aware or spybot. Sometimes when I am doing some good will work, I cannot believe that people would put up with their system state for as long as they have. I guess it is the same as I view a mechanic. I can't argue with him/her because I know nothing about vehicles. But I think the difference is that when I don't know something or my B.S. detector sounds off I'll learn it as much as possible.

But in the end, it all comes down to making ends meet. Again, honestly, if you are going to get $75/hr and your client can pay you, then go for it. If they can sleep soundly, you can sleep soundly!

garv221

I hit'em with an intial $100.00 for the first hour & 75.00 an hour after that. I mean I hate doing computer work cheap. I let them know I absolutely know what the problem is & know how to fix & gurantee it will be correct when I leave. People seem to feel good about that.

/usr

I need to start charging for IT work I do out of work. I never do, never have. It's mostly only for friends and family and I know they expect it as a favor. I suppose it just irritates me to have to spend my time getting rid of viruses/spyware, then not getting paid for it.

Onto your situation. Charge what you feel is necessary. Don't neglect taking the money. You're doing a job for someone. When I take my car to get it worked on, I don't expect it to be free. I also know that what may be hard for me, may be a small job for them. They have the knowledge and the tools, I don't. Thus, I fully expect to pay them whatever it takes to fix the problem that I'm clueless about. Sorry about the bad analogy, but it works.

keenon

i charge for everything.. pc, wiring, networking, servers.. and anything else i'm asked to do outside of "work". i generally never have any complaints about what i charge and sometimes i base it off of how much time is it going to take me or the ease of the job. but i always keep it fair and under what the local pc store charges for the same work. this keeps people refering work my way so take it like this doing a basic software install for under 50 may end up bringing you hunderds more..

Fu Loser

If you see an opertunity to rack a lot of hours (if you really want that) charge $50 an hour.

I've lately been charging $50 an hour to do so side jobs for people I know.

I also am trying to get my foot in a door with one company I've done some work for. Sense I want to go full time with the company really bad I charge them $50 and hour. If its a 6 hour job I knock 2 hours off that I right up as customer satisfaction. I also stop the clock for anytime I spend reading manuals. (Sometimes a guy just has to stop and ask for directions

)

This company currently pays $175 an hour for their IT guy. So I have been showing I can save the company a ton of money. Ive also offered working full time for $20-$25 an hour. (beats my warehouse job of $10). They were formally paying $250hr for a IT they previously had.

So $50hr to me doesn't sound expensive at all.

Most my teachers say they charge around $125-$175hr.

skully93

I typically don't charge per hour, but I ramble a lot, explain lots of things, etc.

When I do side work, I look at the expected scope of the job, what's needed, if the customer is overflowing with $$, and then of course the final product.

If there were some problems due to my lack of experience, the bill stays the same. If they're in my face bothering me every 10 seconds and make my life hell, it goes up (esp. considering they'll likely call 300x).

If its a good friend's friend or something, and all I'm doing is removing spyware, reloading an OS, or adding/replacing a small component, then I ask 50-100.

If someone wants me to set up a small network from scratch, update windows, and make everything shared with printers, 3-500 if I think I can get it.

I did have a friend give me 200 for setting up a domain server and adding all 3 machines to it. The support calls promise to be frightening but he's a good guy.

keenon

tru, i only charge by the hour if i forsee the job/project taking more than a day. normally i charge a flat rate which usually comes out to sometimes less than 30 min for 50- 100. but in order to get stuff done like that u have to know your ish.. and do it jus as well

redbull2689

I charge usually between $45 and $55/hour. It really depends on the customer, and what I am doing. Simple spywear removal I would charge about $50/hour.

I am only A+ certified, but I have a lot more of an understanding to computers then just the basics to the A+ course.

When building computers, Its usually a flat labor rate of about $150 give or take, depending on the system, and if I am installing an OS or not.