When I started off there was one big problem – What should I quote? How should I decide how much to charge for the projects? It was a big question. What if I am quoting too much? My clients will run away. They will find someone who can do that at a lower cost. So, I will quote very low. But, then I won’t get paid. So, what is the optimal quote?

Well here is the simplest method you can use to provide a quotation to your clients:

1.) Set a minimum rate for your services. For eg. $10 per hour.

2.) Analyze the project to have an estimate of how many man hours you will need to complete that project. Remember not to estimate the “days”. Estimate the “hours”.

3.) You got it – Multiply the number of hours with your minimum rate. For eg. 20 hours X $10= $200 for the project.

Precaution – After you have estimated the number of hours you will need to complete a project add 20% of additional hours to get a final count of man hours needed. Use this to tell how many hours you will need for the project. But, avoid charging these additional 20% hours.

For eg. if you calculate you need 20 hours to complete some work then add 20% of 20 hours = 4 hours. So, the total time you will need is 24 hours. But, when you quote go for 20hours X $10. Why? Isn’t this quoting less than what I deserve. It seems so on the first go but it is really not. The additional 20% of the hours are just to be used as buffer time for your OWN sake, to save your own self in case the work overflows.

I hope this helps those beginners who are still struggling to find a way to strike a balance between the price to quote & the time needed to complete the project and provide an optimal quote to your clients.

Filed in Freelancing on Monday, April 20, 2009 · 1 Comment »