Job Price

[Pino]

Ok i've recently stepped into the world of web-development and have worked with some big names, a singer (cerys matthews) and a political web-site for a book (John harris)

Now these sites are dynamic with admin control pannels written from the ground up by me using PHP and MYSQL, i've been paid penuts for them trying to build my portfolio up.

Ok so my problem i've been asked to develop a catalouge style site with searchable products etc (details still comming through), now i've been asked to state my price, what kind of things can i use to determine how much it will cost?

Also i'm on a tight deadline of 10 days. It will be php and mysql.


How would you determine how much you charge for such a project?

Thanks

[RobDog888]

You would need to look at a few things in order to "try" to calculate a quote.

1. Value to the client: If it saves them hours of work, makes them more productive, increases sales, increases
   profitibility, etc you need to see it from their point of view. How much would something like this be worth to you if
   you were wanting to purchase it?
   
   
2. ROI: Return On Investment - how long will it take for the client to recoup the expenditures of implementing the
   project. If it will increase sales or profits by 25% per month then you can figure they will break even on the
   investment in four months. Then after that they will have a 25% profitibility factor. Is this enough of a factor to
   justify making the purchase?
   
   
3. Your hourly investment to complete the project: If you feel it will take the average developer 80 hours to complete
   then figure a base hourly rate * 80 and balance that against #1 & #2.
   
   
4. Dont forget to factor in some hours for the "issues" that will always appear. Think of it like a safty buffer so
   you dont loose your own profits on the project.

Combine all these against each other to come up with a quote that will be low enough to get the job and yet high
enough to make a profit. Remember that if its too high then they wont do it, but if its too low then your working
for peanuts.

Quotes are tricky but if you could try to find out what the average price would be for something like this then
you can have something to base yours on. Heck, contact a reprutable Web developing compnay and ask them for
a quote on a similar project, but changing everything so its fictious and they cant get any info on your prospective
client.

Good luck

[Pino]

You would need to look at a few things in order to "try" to calculate a quote.

1. Value to the client: If it saves them hours of work, makes them more productive, increases sales, increases
   profitibility, etc you need to see it from their point of view. How much would something like this be worth to you if
   you were wanting to purchase it?
   
   
2. ROI: Return On Investment - how long will it take for the client to recoup the expenditures of implementing the
   project. If it will increase sales or profits by 25% per month then you can figure they will break even on the
   investment in four months. Then after that they will have a 25% profitibility factor. Is this enough of a factor to
   justify making the purchase?
   
   
3. Your hourly investment to complete the project: If you feel it will take the average developer 80 hours to complete
   then figure a base hourly rate * 80 and balance that against #1 & #2.
   
   
4. Dont forget to factor in some hours for the "issues" that will always appear. Think of it like a safty buffer so
   you dont loose your own profits on the project.

Combine all these against each other to come up with a quote that will be low enough to get the job and yet high
enough to make a profit. Remember that if its too high then they wont do it, but if its too low then your working
for peanuts.

Quotes are tricky but if you could try to find out what the average price would be for something like this then
you can have something to base yours on. Heck, contact a reprutable Web developing compnay and ask them for
a quote on a similar project, but changing everything so its fictious and they cant get any info on your prospective
client.

Good luck

Thanks, very interesting. Anyone else got any views? (I tried rating but i think you were the last person i rated )

Thanks though