Gold wrote: > I found it useful. Cheers Don. You're welcome.
>> Do you agree? > > I found the cost of some things quite above what I would consider to > be the norm. Humm.... number of people seemed to miss the point that it's a template. You just adjust the numbers to your own needs. > $1k for software?? You run microsoft don't you. :) ...errr... As a Microsoft DEV I would have set that figure at ~$5k, not 1k. MSDN isn't free and is annual. I wondered if anyone would pick up on that though.... FLOSS dev's still have to eat. If you want a customisation then you may choose to pay for it to be done. I've made an allowance for PHP programmers who want to give something back to the project maintainers directly. > - From the point of view of someone starting out there are a hell of a > lot of cost cuts that could be made here. Again, the purpose is to help you work our that you *should* be charging rather than just charging based on what the market is currently charging. I agree. As a student there are things that you may choose not to factor in. For example, you may already have a computer for study, so you don't feel the need to factor it in. However, even as a student you still have to pay tax on the money you earn doing your programming for your part time job. If you work for KMart then you can't claim any of the cost of your computer back against your tax. If you do a contract job for someone, you can. > These are the suggestions that I would recommend for someone starting out; > Skip the Server System. >There's plenty of places you can host without > the need for your own servers. As a contractor I always had about 3 servers. 1 to store files on, two others for building up test platfroms - sand box machines. Yes, today you can do more and more of this on your own laptop with visualisation. You'll also note that I put in quite a large allowance for hardware, high that most of us probablly even spend these days. I know my last laptop was sub 2k. > Printer. I've been running a paperless office for over a year now. You'll notice I didn't include a PDA in the list. A PDA is a 'must have' for some people. Perhaps you need to test your sites on it. Perhaps you need to demonstrate to people. The point is, to caculate your cost, put in what you need. :) > Software. My total bill for software since I started: $0. Percentage > of legit software in the office: 100% I'm guessing this means you give nothing back to GNU foundation to help support their work - air travel for Richard is still not free... or is it? > Telephone: You don't need one. Stick with the mobile. 100%, but if you do have one and you use it, you're entitled to claim. > Mobile Broadband for customer presentations: There's plenty of free > wireless now. Yip, you can trim your costs down by leaving out things you don't feel you'll need. You can also choose to accept $35k as an income. > Data Projector for presentations and training: Presentations, yes; but > what are you presenting? Yip, a 'nice to have' for some people, and required for others, but justifying your laser pointer without one could be hard! You need a $5k projector to justify a $5 toy!!! > Training, no. Sit them in front of a > keyboard for training. Good luck if your training/presenting 40 people on the busineses new web site features. > Car: Everything you do is online. You don't need one. True. You can order your next PC online, no need to go to Dicksmith to browser. > Marketing and Sales Costs: Word of mouth recommendations may increase > the Entertainment budget, but not nearly as much as this field. I've always found, the more you spend in this field, the more you earn. It's up to you. > If a potential client is considering my services and > pretty diagrams and arm waving is going to cause them to pick me I'm > not interested in them at all. Each to his own. :) Personally, if all I have to do to get customers is wave my arms then I'm not to unhappy about that. Cheers Don --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ NZ PHP Users Group: http://groups.google.com/group/nzphpug To post, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
