Getting into Freelance work

[grande]

Hi guys,

I have a friend who is designing the graphics and logo for a new business, and they want a web presence. My friend has asked me to put together an estimate for them. My question is, how do I know how much to charge? What metrics do you use? Hours? Story Points? How much is my time worth?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

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Matt Grande
C# Master.
Ruby on Rails Admirer.
ActionScript Student.
JavaScript Hate-Monger.

 

[mrdenny]

I charge everything by billable hours. How many hours to you expect it to take you? Pad it a little to cover any problems that come up, but don't pad it to much or your out budget your self.

The rate is a little different. It will depend on your experience in the field, and should be comparable to what other in your area with your level of expertise charge. A good starting point can be your regular salary into an hourly rate, then some for taxes. If you are in the US you'll have to deal with paying income taxes on the income you earn from the project. Tax law in other countries will vary.

Denny
MCSA (2003) / MCDBA (SQL 2000)
MCTS (SQL 2005 / Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0: Configuration / Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007: Configuration)
MCITP Database Administrator (SQL 2005) / Database Developer (SQL 2005)

My Blog

 

[chiph]

Pick up a copy of this book -- it's extremely useful for working as an independent.

http://www.amazon.com/Software-Developers-Guide-Whil-Hentzen/dp/193091900X

Chip H.


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If you want to get the best response to a question, please read FAQ222-2244 first

 

[xwb]

Depends on which country you're in. A low rate quoted in the UK would be equivalent to a high rate in the Maldives.

 

[grande]

I'm in Canada, if that helps any.

-------------------------
Matt Grande
C# Master.
Ruby on Rails Admirer.
ActionScript Student.
JavaScript Hate-Monger.

 

[xwb]

If you're working as a permie elsewhere, work out what your current rate is and multiply it by a fiddle factor. The fiddle factor has to be higher than 1. Simple example

For simplicity, say you're getting $26000 pa. That works out to $500 a week. If you do a 40 hour week, that works out to $12.50 per hour.

I don't know if you get overtime rates in your company. When I was a permie, I normally charged the overtime rate rounded up to the nearest pound for small one off jobs. To make things simple say the overtime rate is twice normal rate. That would work out to $25 ph.

Also depends on whether you are going to pay tax on it. If you have to pay tax on it then add the tax to the amount. I've got no idea what the tax rates are in Canada. If it is 10% then the rate would be $27.50 ph after tax

If you spend 40 hours on it, it would amount to $1100. You may think it is a lot but you could be doing other things in that time so don't feel guilty about it.

 

[Glenn9999]

I don't know how Canada works, but don't forget all the other taxes that are involved that an employer would pay if you were a permanent employee.

In the US, there are social security and Medicare taxes which a permanent employee would only pay 7.5% (the employer picks up 7.5% too). But if you are self-employed as you are talking about, you would have to pay the full 15%. Effectively, being self-employed as a contractor (what you're talking about) changes your legal status as a taxpayer in the US.

It would pay for you to do much research and find out what the tax laws are in Canada for contractors (which effectively you would be).