Hi Chris, Welcome to the hell that is estimating projects. In all the years that I've been doing this and for the range of clients I've had, from Fortune 100s on down to mom & pops, I can reliably say that there's no formula save for some guesstimating and your gut. All of my estimates are per-project, though I do arrive at those numbers by applying what I feel is a fair market hourly fee. This fee is amorphous and fluctuates based on the type of work being performed, the scope of the project and the size & type of client. I don't charge nearly as much for a small business as I do the Hearst Corporation. I've consistently landed work and feel that I'm always getting what I need (though sometimes I do wish I had bumped the numbers up a bit!) in terms of compensation. I often have to sub out portions of the projects and work with my freelancers to make sure they're getting taken care of as well.
Someone posted this handy estimating tool to the list a few weeks ago: http://estimator.astuteo.com/ It's flexible enough for you to enter your own fee for each aspect of the project and can even be customized to add missing fields. It's not going to price your project for you because you still need to determine the time and costs for each component. But it's rather useful (as would be an Excel spreadsheet) once you've arrived at your various fees and hours. So, break the project up into the different types of work you're going to do (designing, slicing/coding, programming/db management, etc), think of how long you'll need to spend on each, come up with an hourly rate(s) you're comfortable with, plug it in to the estimator and see what it spits out. If it feels right, go with it. And when in doubt, add 20%! Good luck and hope you land the project! Art Thompson, Jr. Logical Things - Design + Technology 917-609-1158 [m] 512-692-9865 [w] www.logicalthings.com linkedin.com/in/logicalthings twitter.com/logicalthings On Thu, Aug 20, 2009 at 2:24 PM, Chris Stromberger < [email protected]> wrote: > This is a very vague question, but just reaching out for some ideas. I > have thus far worked strictly on an hourly basis for web development (and I > only do occasional development on the side, still have a full time office > job, so I don't have tons of experience to draw on). But occasionally I > will get a request for a bid to "do a site". I have never felt comfortable > with my estimating prowess, thus have always preferred to go hourly. But I > also think that going hourly limits your potential for greater income. > Anyhow, just curious to hear how people generally operate. Strictly > hourly? Or when estimating say a 5-page static site (what I'm faced with > currently), do you estimate X time per page then add some buffer? > > Thanks, > Chris > > > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Our Web site: http://www.RefreshAustin.org/ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Refresh Austin" group. [ Posting ] To post to this group, send email to [email protected] Job-related postings should follow http://tr.im/refreshaustinjobspolicy We do not accept job posts from recruiters. [ Unsubscribe ] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] [ More Info ] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Refresh-Austin -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
