What would you charge?

[Durbs]

D'you really think a company that asks a pimp for a 1 day contract is really going to dish out a 6 monther at a later point?

Even if they do, it'll be at a lousy rate because they'll be agonising over the difference in expenditure between a decent contractor and a junior permie on 10K pa.

Maybe, maybe not, you never know. But for the sake of doing a days job and getting your normal rate, you now have an additional contact on your books.

Even if you only get a few more one day jobs out of it in the future its probably worth it if you're doing nowt at the time. Also now chap from piddly company A is talking to company B asking what they are up to - they want some support/development/new kit - "yeah, we had a guy in a while back who did x for us, was good, i'll give you his No". I've had numerous jobs in the past this way - via word of mouth from someone i'd sorted out a little job for.

Its all about networking and keeping clients sweet.

[chicane]

I'd personally go the other way - do it at a standard rate and do a ferkin good job and then when the same company needs a contractor for the juicy 6 monther that crops up in a couple of months time they'll hopefully be on the blower.

D'you really think a company that asks a pimp for a 1 day contract is really going to dish out a 6 monther at a later point?

Even if they do, it'll be at a lousy rate because they'll be agonising over the difference in expenditure between a decent contractor and a junior permie on 10K pa.

[Durbs]

I'd personally go the other way - do it at a standard rate and do a ferkin good job and then when the same company needs a contractor for the juicy 6 monther that crops up in a couple of months time they'll hopefully be on the blower.

[tino]

First thing I'd factor in is the cost to me of doing the work - if I'm unavailable, then obviously there is the cost of not working elsewhere.

Then there is the cost of preparation time, plus the likelihood of it being a longer day than usual.

Add in the cost of whether I could be @rsed to do anything for a one day engagement, or just stay at home.

By which time, I'd be far too expensive to bother even speaking to the pimp.

[TheFaQQer]

Just to elaborate, I'm not currently available (thankfully) but just wondered what other people would look at charging for a one-off, one-day bit of work.

Like Tino, I'd look at charging around double normal rate (ie £500-600 for the day) and would have no reservations whatsoever about doing so - especially given the overhead of speaking to the pimp and client in advance of actually doing any work, along with the strong risk of finishing the work late in the day.

I also wouldn't be too bothered about burning bridges with the client by charging such a high amount - any client that wants one day of work performed at a time isn't likely to be dishing out and substantial amounts of work in future.

First thing I'd factor in is the cost to me of doing the work - if I'm unavailable, then obviously there is the cost of not working elsewhere.

Then there is the cost of preparation time, plus the likelihood of it being a longer day than usual.

Add in the cost of whether I could be @rsed to do anything for a one day engagement, or just stay at home.

By which time, I'd be far too expensive to bother even speaking to the pimp.

[tino]

Just to elaborate, I'm not currently available (thankfully) but just wondered what other people would look at charging for a one-off, one-day bit of work.

Like Tino, I'd look at charging around double normal rate (ie £500-600 for the day) and would have no reservations whatsoever about doing so - especially given the overhead of speaking to the pimp and client in advance of actually doing any work, along with the strong risk of finishing the work late in the day.

I also wouldn't be too bothered about burning bridges with the client by charging such a high amount - any client that wants one day of work performed at a time isn't likely to be dishing out and substantial amounts of work in future.

To be fair, it's likely to be a long day

[chicane]

Just to elaborate, I'm not currently available (thankfully) but just wondered what other people would look at charging for a one-off, one-day bit of work.

Like Tino, I'd look at charging around double normal rate (ie £500-600 for the day) and would have no reservations whatsoever about doing so - especially given the overhead of speaking to the pimp and client in advance of actually doing any work, along with the strong risk of finishing the work late in the day.

I also wouldn't be too bothered about burning bridges with the client by charging such a high amount - any client that wants one day of work performed at a time isn't likely to be dishing out and substantial amounts of work in future.

[zara_backdog]

What can you get done in 1 day, if there is an existing code base? It can take longer than that just to get yourself set up with getting the projects to build out of CVS, let alone get to grips with the architecture.

If it's local to you, maybe a normal rate, plus a bit... depends how time-critical it is to the client.

whs

What are they expecting to be completed in a day?

[TheFaQQer]

£450.

No idea really.

Are you interested / available? Is it convenient location- and skills-wise? Are you in contract elsewhere and have to take time out? Are you in need of a break and would rather not work?

[d000hg]

In fact, sometimes it takes longer than a day just to get a desk with a PC you can log in to

[d000hg]

What can you get done in 1 day, if there is an existing code base? It can take longer than that just to get yourself set up with getting the projects to build out of CVS, let alone get to grips with the architecture.

If it's local to you, maybe a normal rate, plus a bit... depends how time-critical it is to the client.

[Platypus]

Double

If you're available, just get what you can but don't be greedy and lose the job

[tino]

This just dropped into my inbox from a pimp:



Normal day rate for this type of work would be £200-350 - what would you ask for on the basis that it's a one day contract?

Double

[chicane]

This just dropped into my inbox from a pimp:

...blah...blah

Your details have been highlighted from my database in reference to a 1-day contract assignment in West Leeds (easy M62/ M621 access), for tomorrow (Friday 14th November 2008), which I am presently resourcing. In particular, I am looking for someone with strong PHP5 (OO), Kohana or other MVC framework, XHTML and CSS …

...blah...blah

Normal day rate for this type of work would be £200-350 - what would you ask for on the basis that it's a one day contract?