Contract Programming Advice

[taysys]

I am expanding my program contracting work to local companies in the area. I have done quite a bit in the past on a job-by-job basis but with organization I new or were referred to on-line, but I always seem to under-estimate my work and get screwed in the end.

I will be working in Clarion, VB6 or .NET and peer-to-peer or SQL.

But in working directly with local businesses, I would like to come out somewhat ahead without over bidding projects.

So, to those of you that do contract yourself, what do you recommend... work by the hour or job? If by hour, what is a resonable rate?

How about source code... if third party add-ons are used, does the client pay for those? How about project files? Does the client keep those... won't be of any value if they don't have the IDE, but...

How about contracts? Are there any good resources to bind both of us to proper conditions so neither one of us come out feeling screwed.

Thanks for your feedback and future dialog.

Bob Taylor

 

[fredericofonseca]

For the rate we would need to know were you work.
If India I would say 5 Dollars an hour would be too much.
If in the UK 60 Dollars if you're lucky.

How to price a contract really depends on how long the contract is going to last.

If you expect it not to last more than a few days, then some people would quote a daily price or a job price.

If something that is going to take 3 month to do, with possible extensions then give by the hour or by the week.

But however you do it ALWAYS put everything on paper, with very well defined dates/tasks.
You have to now exactly what you are quoting for in writting, so that you don't quote for something and then the customers keeps adding more stuff to the project.

Estimating how long a job is going to take is always a hard thing to do for complex jobs, and there is not much you can do. With more experience you will have a better idea of how things go wrong, and most specially what goes normally wrong, and you will be prepared for those, and give an extra time in your quotes.


Whether the client keeps the source or not depends on the contract. Always put in writting whether the source belongs to you or to the customer. Never assume anything.
About third party add-ons it really depends on values (for very small values I would just include then on the contract price).
Otherwise if when discussing the contract you now you are going to need these tools then put then on the contract as extras that may be needed, and agree with the customer that he will pay for them if you decide they are really needed.




Regards

Frederico Fonseca
SysSoft Integrated Ltd

http://www.syssoft-int.com

 

[taysys]

Thank you for your thoughts; greatly appreciated!

I am working in Northern California. I currently have a full-time position as a programmer/analyst. But I have found a need for a lot of small business needs here.

BT