how much should i charge?
Out of context: Reply #17
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- scrap_paper0
I have to disagree with a couple of posts here. No offense guys.
Freelancing IS NOT the same as taking your yearly salary and breaking it down into what you would make per hour. There are real and concrete mathematics that go into working out your break even point and the profit margins you want on top of break even. Break even is only worst case scenario where your are on the edge of literally not making any money and just covering your expenses.
An end client never should know what your hourly rate is in my opinion. That is for you alone. You use your calculated hourly rate to come up with an estimate that has budget and timeline worked into it. Into that estimate you should also outline at what point the budget/timeline will have to be revisited if the scope of the project changes.
Also realize that project EFFORT and project DURATION are different. EFFORT is that actual hours you put into a project (eg. 3hrs). DURATION is how long the project will take to be finally delivered (eg 2 weeks).
I have found that if you provide an end client your calculated hourly rate they start making way too many assumptions about your time and quite frankly you don't make nearly as much money. You "give away the ghost" and put yourself at a disadvantage.
Now, if you are freelancing in house with a design company. It is different. They are hiring you strictly for the hours you spend with them. At that point you provide an hourly rate.