How much would you charge?

[Ayaz]

Hi all

I may become involved in a project out of school hours that will involve setting up a network from scratch for a business which will consist of 10 pc's, router, switch, waps, sbs 2003, etc. This also invloves setting up server 2003 including all dns, dhcp, gpo stuff. I would also be doing the maintenance too which is a bigger job really than the installation itself.

How much would you charge for your services?

[dalsoth]

Call a few companies and get some quotes for the work then take a look at your level of service compared to theirs and adjust the price accordingly.

[Ayaz]

im looking at prob 4 hours per evening and also weekend.

[dalsoth]

As i said i would call some small IT companies and ask them to quote for the exact same service and i would determine how much to charge based on the quotes they provide and my own honest opinion of how much better or worse a service i would perform.

Did some web design work once with PHP and creating a full site with management interface and databases for a company. Was not sure what to charge so asked for peanuts. Peanuts were supplied. Spoke to an expert in the industry who did something similar. He was shocked at what i charged and said he would have charged 20 times that.

Guess who was left feeling like a silly monkey

Live and learn. Make sure you do not sign up to anything you can not handle and make sure it is all legit with contracts.

Good luck.

[teejay]

SBS is a piece of cake to set up, so you get a lot of people who really don't know what they are doing installing it rather badly for peanuts.
If it is just the setup and not long term maintenance, then I would charge in the region of £50 per hour.
If they are wanting you to maintain as well, then work out how much time you will need to spend per week and double what you would normally want to earn per hour as you will always end up spending extra time on it, plus its eating into your spare time so you need to make it worthwhile, plus you will need to pay tax and NI on your income from it. I would charge in the region of £30 per hour.

[jcollings]

Hi all

I may become involved in a project out of school hours that will involve setting up a network from scratch for a business which will consist of 10 pc's, router, switch, waps, sbs 2003, etc. This also invloves setting up server 2003 including all dns, dhcp, gpo stuff. I would also be doing the maintenance too which is a bigger job really than the installation itself.

How much would you charge for your services?

We undertake such projects for our feeder primary schools. When we do the technicial staff involved get paid £25 per hour.

[Ayaz]

We undertake such projects for our feeder primary schools. When we do the technicial staff involved get paid £25 per hour.

is that £25 per hour for the maintenance as well or is that just for the install?

also i may have to be on call, so as i said if i am needed 4 hours per evening but they never actually call me on that evening, how do you work that out? do yu still charge them the same rate per hour even though you havent done any work?

[jcollings]

is that £25 per hour for the maintenance as well or is that just for the install?

also i may have to be on call, so as i said if i am needed 4 hours per evening but they never actually call me on that evening, how do you work that out? do yu still charge them the same rate per hour even though you havent done any work?

£25 is for the install. We don't charge for maintenance as some of that falls within our technology college bid. As for on call fees - I *think* our site managers get a payment for being on call (not huge) then get a minimum of 2 hours pay at double time if they are called out.

[kmount]

I'd be looking at around £50 per hour during the installation and acceptance testing stages and then consider a retainer of £x per annum for your retained services with an oncall hourly rate of perhaps £40-£50 per hour for the first hour and £35 for the subsequent dependant upon what one considers maintenance.

I note its a business, I assume they understand you can only provide support out of office hours?

[rad]

is that £25 per hour for the maintenance as well or is that just for the install?

also i may have to be on call, so as i said if i am needed 4 hours per evening but they never actually call me on that evening, how do you work that out? do yu still charge them the same rate per hour even though you havent done any work?

Word of warning, if your current employer finds you are doing "another job" in effect by been "oncall" I would question if it is worth risking your current employment.

[IanT]

I used todo this sort of work for my old company I worked for, we charged I think £72 per hour.

[Ayaz]

I'd be looking at around £50 per hour during the installation and acceptance testing stages and then consider a retainer of £x per annum for your retained services with an oncall hourly rate of perhaps £40-£50 per hour for the first hour and £35 for the subsequent dependant upon what one considers maintenance.

I note its a business, I assume they understand you can only provide support out of office hours?

its a tuition place that will be open for 4 hours per evening and on the weekend.

[Ayaz]

Word of warning, if your current employer finds you are doing "another job" in effect by been "oncall" I would question if it is worth risking your current employment.

Really? I thought one could work more than one job at a time? And it would not affect my school job in the slightest.

[teejay]

You can run into problems if the extra work impacts on your ability to do your main job, or if there is a conflict of interest.
It really does depend on your contract of employment, so it is always best and also polite to ask your main employer first.

[mark]

You have to compensate when comparing your prices to outside companies as they have insurance and responsibility tied to their status that you can't offer as a private individual. ie it'd be fair to charge a lot less, and to be fair, you should also let the buyer know this.

Also on a standard LA contract you'd be breaking your agreement of employment. Just saying be careful.