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

Don't give them a price!  

Tell them your rate, and explain the concepts of Agile Development.
(http://agilemanifesto.org), especially the concepts of  changing requirements and why you 
can't  give them a firm price.

Explain that you if engaged, you and they will jointly identified deliverables with estimates to 
acheive them as you progress and that at any stage they are at liberty to reject your estimate 
and halt the project.

The get them to agree to a  first deliverable of:
    a full assessment report of their existing system , 
    a proposal for how to proceed,
    an estimate of the time required for the next stage and
    a "ballpark" estimate of the likely total time for the whole project.

-- 
Stuart


 On 6 Nov 2010 at 14:14, Mark Simms wrote:

> 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.
> 
> 
> 
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