How to charge clients?
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- dny8
I'm a fresh graduate and I don't know how to charge clients, especially if they're friends from high school or whatever.. Should I about the fees/budget before the project started or just drop them the invoice when the project's done?
I'm so confused...
- dny80
I'm a fresh graduate and I don't know how to charge clients, especially if they're friends from high school or whatever.. Should I explain about the fees/budget before the project started or just drop them the invoice when the project's done?
I'm so confused...
- trooper0
i dont care if theyre mates or whatever they all should get charged the same rate - if you do people favours you'll only get f#!ed up - take it from someone whos learned that lesson the hard way
always take a non refundable deposit of 50%
what id do is charge a flat fee to the original spec then anything over and above (because you KNOW theres going to be changed over and above the original brief) get charged at an hourly rate
tie them to a contract or an agreement that states all this.
- 50% in advance??? wow! you are the man!! so if you start on a project that's going to be 20k, you get 10k in advance?Meeklo
- Hah, yeah ridiculous. In an ideal world this might work.kingsteven
- I do this as well. I won't take a project if they won't put 50% up front. Been bitten too many times.yaphi
- yup i do... it takes balls!trooper
- You have to these days. I do the same as well if its really large i do 1/3 @ start, 1/3 @ 50%, 1/3 @ 100%silentseven
- dny80
ok.. so, um.. how do you actually do that? do you tell them about the fees etc at the initial meeting?
I'm always confused about this since in most of the meetings I've went through, I've never got any clue about how much I'll get in the end..
- yup i explain how it works and that because we're a service industry we dont have stock to fall back ontrooper
- monNom0
I'd recommend not working for friends/family in general, and especially if you're unsure about billing. It's really tough to chase down a debt when there's a personal relationship involved.
if you do do it, do it only if it's gonna be a cool project, do it free and make sure you're explicit about your time commitment and desire for creative control (to a degree). you'll come out smelling like a rose and be owed a favour to boot.
keep business relationships all business. no hurt feelings.
- WeLoveNoise0
1. provide a quote when u have assessed the brief
2. take a 30% deposit and then the remainder 70 upon completioncontracts r always useful but personally i dont use them unless working freelance for an actual design studio.
- GeorgesII0
do you have a template you can share with us noise?
- monNom0
now for business:
draft an outline of the project detailing stages, required materials, deliverables for each stage and cost of each stage. cover your ass for any overages/change requests etc. Doing this ensures that your client knows what you'll be doing (what they're paying for), and how their descisions will affect the bottom line.
no work gets started until your client signs off on this letter (contract) and you get a deposit to cover a reasonable portion of the project. If you're going to exceed the budget, tell your client right away, and give them a revised estimate. No surprises generally means happy clients.
- GeorgesII0
thanx noise, bookmarked
- matt310
i get paid only in blow j's
- chossy0
my girlfriend has just started to have to send out invoices and tell people how much they should pay, she asked me and I said ask for as much as you can push it for and as much as you believe you are worth.
- defo
like i said before i judge it purely on the car they driveWeLoveNoise
- defo
- matt310
charge them:
- sublocked0
@dny8
Estimate your project before-hand. Break the project down into individual units of work, tasks.
Come up with a rate you believe is fair for an hour of your work. There are many resources on how to do this. Google is your friend.
Always ask for payment up front as a % of your estimate. I've gone from 1/4th to 1/2 up front along the years.
Deduct hour hours from the payment, then bill in 2 week or one month increments after that.
If you need a program to help you, you can't beat my favorite app for freelancers - http://www.getcashboard.com (I wrote it ;)
- much better than paid on completion. you don't get screwed this way.sublocked
- moamoa0
I don´t charge anything to my friends.
If they are just people I know from the past/school/whatever and they start a businiess I take a lower hourly rate, and don´t charge any rights of use.
- WeLoveNoise0
yeh i take moa's approach but depending on the scale of the project i will do it for free because in the longrun i will benefit by them recommending me
- dny80
thanks for the advice, guys!
really appreciate your support for this threadthanks again!
- ********0
Usually, cannons first, then you send in the troops. Finally, you chase them with maniac horsemen through the fields.