6 ms·

Southeast USA. $100/hr for everything (meetings, development work, bug fixes, ...). Took me a while to be honest with myself and finally charge for all of my t

Southeast USA. $100/hr for everything (meetings, development work, bug fixes, ...). Took me a while to be honest with myself and finally charge for all of my time. Maybe it's confidence? Never had an issue from a client with this arrangement.

mgbmtl 4y ago
I tell clients that identifying the problem is at least 50% of the work, and that includes meetings. Well, I call them "work sessions", and I don't think it's an euphemism. And then they can pay 100 hours for a narrow scope of perfect, or they can pay 20 hours and iterate until it's good enough (bugfixes).
- rebuilder 4y ago
  Is it controversial that meetings should count as billable time? I mean, it’s not like you’re there because you just really like meetings!
  - nathancahill 4y ago
    I bill double for meetings. Suddenly was invited to a lot less meetings that I never needed to be in as a contractor. Perfection.
    - wpietri 4y ago
      This is genius and I wish I had read this comment a long time ago.
    - swader999 4y ago
      There's no way my wife will go for that.
  - ncallaway 4y ago
    We bill for project management and work related meetings, but not contract and business development related meetings. So if we’re getting feedback for our performance, ways we can improve, or discussing a contract extension we don’t bill for those. But if we’re discussing the thing we’re building, or doing project status updates we bill for that. We’ve never had a client push back on that.
  - nivertech 4y ago
    Meetings before signing a contract are usually free. Mean people call them "exploiting freelancers". They would invite consultants to their office and try to pickup their brains. They usually asking for free estimation, or some other free work, in the best (and very rare) case they will ask your rate and shake the hands right at the first meeting. There are very few people who would agree to pay even for the initial meeting. After signing the contract, you can bill for all the time you spent working, meeting, thinking, answering emails or phone calls, or even being on standby or warming up a seat at a client site. In case the client set up a meeting and then canceled it on the short notice, or worse, didn't show up at all - you can also charge for this if you've lost the opportunity to work on other things. Of course it's best to discuss this with the customer before signing the contract, and if possible made it clear in the contract itself.
hollywood_court 4y ago
You should probably charge more. Automobile repairs techs in Alabama charge more than that. But I’d like to know where you find work because I haven’t found many clients in the SE that wish to spend money.
- lostboomerang 4y ago
  > Automobile repairs techs Is that a different term for "mechanics"?
  - motoboi 4y ago
    Yeah. Mechanics charge 50, automobile repairs tech charge 100.
  - hollywood_court 4y ago
    In the repair industry, technician is reserved for folks that can properly diagnose and make any and all repairs. A mechanic is someone who can throw parts at a car but isn’t likely to be able to perform in-depth diagnostics or advanced repairs especially on newer cars with complex electrical systems. A mechanic in Alabama should expect to earn $50k-$60k while a tech is closer to $110k or so. I know at least 9 guys in my county who never finished high school and couldn’t compose a proper sentence if their lives depended on it yet they earn $150k+ per year repairing automobiles.
    - lostboomerang 4y ago
      Thank you for the explanation.
- jononomo 4y ago
  Repairing an automobile is a more difficult and valuable skill set, however.
  - hollywood_court 4y ago
    Absolutely and the tools required often cost far more than a developer will ever spend during the course of their career. But $100 per hour is too cheap. I charged more than that for carpentry repairs to homes and commercial buildings. The local PepBoys charges $122 per hour and they’re aren’t capable of much more than oil changes and tire repairs.

mgbmtl 4y ago

I tell clients that identifying the problem is at least 50% of the work, and that includes meetings. Well, I call them "work sessions", and I don't think it's an euphemism. And then they can pay 100 hours for a narrow scope of perfect, or they can pay 20 hours and iterate until it's good enough (bugfixes).

rebuilder 4y ago
Is it controversial that meetings should count as billable time? I mean, it’s not like you’re there because you just really like meetings!
- nathancahill 4y ago
  I bill double for meetings. Suddenly was invited to a lot less meetings that I never needed to be in as a contractor. Perfection.
  - wpietri 4y ago
    This is genius and I wish I had read this comment a long time ago.
  - swader999 4y ago
    There's no way my wife will go for that.
- ncallaway 4y ago
  We bill for project management and work related meetings, but not contract and business development related meetings. So if we’re getting feedback for our performance, ways we can improve, or discussing a contract extension we don’t bill for those. But if we’re discussing the thing we’re building, or doing project status updates we bill for that. We’ve never had a client push back on that.
- nivertech 4y ago
  Meetings before signing a contract are usually free. Mean people call them "exploiting freelancers". They would invite consultants to their office and try to pickup their brains. They usually asking for free estimation, or some other free work, in the best (and very rare) case they will ask your rate and shake the hands right at the first meeting. There are very few people who would agree to pay even for the initial meeting. After signing the contract, you can bill for all the time you spent working, meeting, thinking, answering emails or phone calls, or even being on standby or warming up a seat at a client site. In case the client set up a meeting and then canceled it on the short notice, or worse, didn't show up at all - you can also charge for this if you've lost the opportunity to work on other things. Of course it's best to discuss this with the customer before signing the contract, and if possible made it clear in the contract itself.

hollywood_court 4y ago

You should probably charge more. Automobile repairs techs in Alabama charge more than that. But I’d like to know where you find work because I haven’t found many clients in the SE that wish to spend money.

lostboomerang 4y ago
> Automobile repairs techs Is that a different term for "mechanics"?
- motoboi 4y ago
  Yeah. Mechanics charge 50, automobile repairs tech charge 100.
- hollywood_court 4y ago
  In the repair industry, technician is reserved for folks that can properly diagnose and make any and all repairs. A mechanic is someone who can throw parts at a car but isn’t likely to be able to perform in-depth diagnostics or advanced repairs especially on newer cars with complex electrical systems. A mechanic in Alabama should expect to earn $50k-$60k while a tech is closer to $110k or so. I know at least 9 guys in my county who never finished high school and couldn’t compose a proper sentence if their lives depended on it yet they earn $150k+ per year repairing automobiles.
  - lostboomerang 4y ago
    Thank you for the explanation.
jononomo 4y ago
Repairing an automobile is a more difficult and valuable skill set, however.
- hollywood_court 4y ago
  Absolutely and the tools required often cost far more than a developer will ever spend during the course of their career. But $100 per hour is too cheap. I charged more than that for carpentry repairs to homes and commercial buildings. The local PepBoys charges $122 per hour and they’re aren’t capable of much more than oil changes and tire repairs.