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Subject:Re: help on bidding a job From:Jean Hollis Weber <jean -at- jeanweber -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Sat, 13 Apr 2002 18:51:53 +1000
Sylvia Breau asked for help on quoting on a job: "Would you do something
like this hourly, or would you quote a flat rate? For a mostly written Help
file of this size, what would a reasonable amount be?"
If you haven't worked for this client before (and thus don't know how much
of your time they will waste in discussing the work or changing things or
in other ways) AND if the client will accept an hourly quote, I'd do that.
It's safer for you.
If the client won't accept that idea, my rule of thumb is to work out how
many hours I think it will take me to get the job done if everything goes
wrong, add in 10% or 20% for contingencies, then double the number of
hours, multiply that by my hourly rate, and quote that for the job. Every
time I've done that, I've been fairly close to how long the job ended up
taking. If I've worked for the client before and know they're a time-waster
(yak-yak-yak on the phone or in person), I may use a multiplier of 3 or 4,
not 2.
Either way, use an hourly rate at least equivalent to what
contractors/freelances in your area are getting for similar work.
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