William Benson
vbacreations at gmail.com
Wed Nov 28 07:19:33 CST 2012
20% reduction for more hours? That is really a masked premium on the short term request. I like it but I am a little more direct, I tell one client my minimum schedule is 16 hrs per week. If they blow me off during the week they are billed 16 hrs regardless. The way I see it, even if I just use the downtime to think of improvements or do additional testing of work I already completed or develop my skills (by participating on a Listserv or discussion forum e.g. :) I am not idle -and I was "ready to serve". I can't just pick up the phone and drum up replacement clients like a dental hygenist during a week in which he/she gets a cancellation or two. Speaking of which... when is the last time anyone has seen a male dental hygenist. I am not making any stereotypical observations that is a serious question, do they exist? I have never seen one and I have been in several dental offices and seen at least 10, none have been male. Now there is a decent paying profession as an alternative to Access Programming. ...grabled by smrat phonn as ususl On Nov 27, 2012 1:59 PM, "Jim Dettman" <jimdettman at verizon.net> wrote: > Bill, > > I'm in the same place and I feel $70 - $80 is more realistic for > programming services from a lone consultant. > > I've been charging $70/hr now for a number of years (about the past 15) > and > give a 20% discount on top of that for a consistent level of work (more > then > 16 hours a week in a trailing two week period). I've been using that setup > for a long time and I'm able to say that I've never lacked for full time > work. The clients I deal with seem to feel that it's not an un-reasonable > rate. > > I do plan to up my rate Jan 1 to $75 as I think I've fallen behind the > curve a bit. > > Some companies do charge $130 - $150/hr, but I always see those relations > as vary contentious. Clients always feel like their getting ripped off and > are always arguing over billing. I think if you peeled all the layers > away, > you'd find their not making anywhere near as much as one would think. So > much ends up as non-billable. > > In fact that's the way I invoiced long ago and never have a desire to > return to it. My rate was double back then and life got far simpler when I > cut my rate in half. > > Clients got a lot happier and so did I. > > FWIW, > Jim. > -----Original Message----- > From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com > [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of William Benson > Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2012 01:33 PM > To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving > Subject: Re: [AccessD] Need for an Access programmer > > These discussions seem to crop up from time to time and I dont like the > impression I may be falsely giving. In truth I have only recently gotten > the courage to ask for 75/hr. I did market research to see that 75 per hr > is chump change in the B2B consulting world. > > I asked someone who runs an IT group here and he told me they bill out at > about 135 per hour for their consultants. They dont do excel or access > programming They have no problem paying me 75/hr for building an excel > solution and don't care if I prefer to use access if it will help them get > a larger project out the door or provide an interim solution. > > So what they really are paying for is results and their main project is > worth millions and all they know is they have an exposure they dont want to > have and want me to handle that piece. > > My other client has vastly deeper pockets but hiring freezes and constant > "work-out" sessions so to he keeps telling me that he cant afford me. Then > asks me to do work anyway and pays me more than my rate as a lump sum yo > deliver something. And I checked up and found out they pay personnel > companies well over 100 per hr for talented ppl. > > Not sure I know which I would rather be: (1) consultant with a few clients > who I can bill a high rate... suffering mixture of feast (late nights and > high stress) or famine (lots of time on my hands for Listserv posting and > reading). Or (2) ... a commodity ( i.e. having a skillset only) and go from > site to site, making a lower wage but perhaps having more certainty where I > will be at any given time period. > > Now that I have jinxed myself by writing this my two clients will probably > dry up and I will be starving in 2 months and neither option. > > Connections are also important.... networking. > > Regards, > BILL > > > ...grabled by smrat phonn as ususl > On Nov 27, 2012 11:41 AM, "Mark Simms" <marksimms at verizon.net> wrote: > > > Not even close here in Philly. Even New York since the financial crisis > has > > see a dramatic drop in rates. > > > > > > > > Well that makes me feel a lot better about my consulting rate of > > > $75/hr... > > > > > > > > > -- > > AccessD mailing list > > AccessD at databaseadvisors.com > > http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd > > Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com > > > -- > AccessD mailing list > AccessD at databaseadvisors.com > http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd > Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com > > -- > AccessD mailing list > AccessD at databaseadvisors.com > http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd > Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com >