Ayaz Posted February 18, 2009 Posted February 18, 2009 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 Posted February 18, 2009 Posted February 18, 2009 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 Posted February 18, 2009 Author Posted February 18, 2009 im looking at prob 4 hours per evening and also weekend.
dalsoth Posted February 18, 2009 Posted February 18, 2009 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:D 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 Posted February 18, 2009 Posted February 18, 2009 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 Posted February 18, 2009 Posted February 18, 2009 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 Posted February 18, 2009 Author Posted February 18, 2009 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 Posted February 18, 2009 Posted February 18, 2009 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 Posted February 18, 2009 Posted February 18, 2009 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 Posted February 18, 2009 Posted February 18, 2009 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 Posted February 18, 2009 Posted February 18, 2009 I used todo this sort of work for my old company I worked for, we charged I think £72 per hour.
Ayaz Posted February 18, 2009 Author Posted February 18, 2009 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 Posted February 18, 2009 Author Posted February 18, 2009 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 Posted February 18, 2009 Posted February 18, 2009 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.
MkII Posted February 18, 2009 Posted February 18, 2009 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.
rad Posted February 18, 2009 Posted February 18, 2009 Really? I thought one could work more than one job at a time? And it would not affect my school job in the slightest. By that I mean, if you are been called for "support" and spend half a day giving it, will yoour current employer be happy with you spending your time sorting it out Only my opinion.
hermand Posted February 19, 2009 Posted February 19, 2009 Also on a standard LA contract you'd be breaking your agreement of employment. Just saying be careful. Is this definite - some moons ago I used to be a technician at a secondary and openly had a second weekend job. I'm not saying you're wrong - just that nobody commented other than to ask how it was etc.
bossman Posted February 19, 2009 Posted February 19, 2009 With the LA you have to fill out a rather large form giving them the details of your extra work duties and informing them if there are any conflicts of interest i.e. will you be stepping on anyones toes at the LA if you undertake any contracts outside your normal work. You would not be able to do work for companies that the LA has contracts with already. I had to fill this in cos of a Deputy Head teacher who wanted his laptop fixing and thought that it was his right to have it done for free and not the £70 I charged him. He contacted the LA and questioned my charges to which i was sent out one of these forms to fill out. Just be careful when taking anything on like this look at the worst case scenario before you commit. :)
yabbadabba Posted February 19, 2009 Posted February 19, 2009 If its friends and people I know on a personal level and its a personal computer than I charge around £10-15 an hour plus parts. If its some one I know who runs a business if it can be done as a favour for a favour I will do, recently I did some work and payment was a cambelt change and service on my van. This works as long as the boundarys are clear. If its some one I know as a friend and its business I will often do a reduced rate if people are struggling or setting up a business, kind of like an introduction offer. If its 100% on the business side then its £40 and hour. I must admit I would be unsure of how to charge the support side, I would be tempted to per call or visit. An other way of looking at it is how much business could be generated by this through extra contacts etc, etc. I have had the odd job I have done cheap just for the contacts for future work.
featured_spectre Posted February 19, 2009 Posted February 19, 2009 for the charges, ring companies and see what they charge, just ask for quotes for the work and work a price based along the fact that you cannot offer the same insurance they can. As for support, that should be done on an AS CALLED basis, say for example £50 per call plus £x per hour + parts if required, that way you have yourself covered.
localzuk Posted February 19, 2009 Posted February 19, 2009 Also on a standard LA contract you'd be breaking your agreement of employment. Just saying be careful. There is no such thing as a standard LA contract for support staff. All LAs will be different.
Michael Posted February 19, 2009 Posted February 19, 2009 How is payment going to be dealt with? If you're not Sole Trader or Limited Company, it's not in the company’s interest to hire you, because you cannot invoice them and secondly, the company cannot offset any costs to setup the network. As for charges (it really depends on specific requirements), but setting up a network from scratch, you're looking at maybe £300+ then support charges would be an hourly rate.
localzuk Posted February 19, 2009 Posted February 19, 2009 How is payment going to be dealt with? If you're not Sole Trader or Limited Company, it's not in the company’s interest to hire you, because you cannot invoice them and secondly, the company cannot offset any costs to setup the network. As for charges (it really depends on specific requirements), but setting up a network from scratch, you're looking at maybe £300+ then support charges would be an hourly rate. Sole Trader doesn't require anything special in order to exist... Other than register as self employed with the HMRC. And then handle the whole hassle of tax. Self-employment | Business Link
Michael Posted February 19, 2009 Posted February 19, 2009 Sole Trader doesn't require anything special in order to exist... Other than register as self employed with the HMRC Yes that's correct, however I very much doubt Ayaz has done this. You'll have to start keeping your own records and then there's the issue of paying NI, accountant fees etc.. This is why (as good as Ayaz probably is at setting up a network etc..) it isn't in the company's interest. As for conflicting with LA terms and conditions of employment, I genuinely don't know the answer to that. Maybe a question to ask a union representative.
Ayaz Posted February 20, 2009 Author Posted February 20, 2009 you guys have got me thinking. i never even thought about the ni and tax side. i wonder if i just set up the network and not do the support side and i ask them for a lump sum of say £500 for setting the network up
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