[AccessD] New engagement; trying to avoid the "tip of the iceberg" consulting trap

Jim Lawrence accessd at shaw.ca
Sat Nov 6 13:30:22 CDT 2010


That is a tough one not knowing how honourable and fair minded these new
clients are. 

If I was you I would do a bit a research; anyone you know whose had worked
there, any of your fellow contractors have had dealings with this company or
anything on the internet... after that you will just have to play it by ear.

Asking for free 8 hours sounds awfully presumptuous on their part. Any
strange code I usually quote it per module. If you loss on one chunk, big
deal but you can always make up on subsequent modules and by that time you
would have a fairly good idea what you would be facing.

Jim

  

-----Original Message-----
From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Mark Simms
Sent: Saturday, November 06, 2010 11:14 AM
To: 'Access Developers discussion and problem solving'
Subject: [AccessD] New engagement; trying to avoid the "tip of the iceberg"
consulting trap

I'm going in to see a new client (via agency) on Monday.
The deal is supposedly this:
I interview with them for an hour; assess the project scope and duration.
If they like what they hear, then I'm hired.

Anyone seasoned in consulting can immediately see the "trap" that's being
set.
I want to avoid it by only giving them a rough estimate AFTER spending 8
hours with the current code base.
I've seen way too much fuggly VBA code to be duped into giving a blind
estimate.
I'm also afraid they'll only be showing me the "tip of the iceberg".

Only question remains: if my estimate at the end of the day is rejected,
what do I charge for the 8 hours that they will consider wasted ? Half rate
? Full rate ?
In my mind, this is like an initial legal consult...and lawyers usually give
you 1 hour for half rate.



-- 
AccessD mailing list
AccessD at databaseadvisors.com
http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd
Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com




More information about the AccessD mailing list