I do think that depending on your particular skill and demand there is an opportunity to get higher rates by simply asking for them.
I didn't know what rate to ask for when I left my permie job so starting around £300-400 seemed about right. Over time I've simply increased my rate a) because I can and b) because I think my experience makes me worth the higher rate.
I do have the luxury of having almost all of my clients approach me (either via my website or leads from other developers) and I've only ever done two projects through an agency in the 6 years I've been running my business, one of which was only because I wasn't on my client's preferred supplier list. Most of my clients aren't big enough to have PSLs though.
Upping my rate hasn't reduced the amount of work I get, but I'd say it has lead to better contracts overall. It also gives me a bit of room to negotiate on rate although I'm pretty firm on it. I did experiment with advertising my rate on my website for a while with mixed results - I got fewer enquiries but the ones I did get tended to be higher quality leads. Fewer "I've got an idea for a great new social networking app but I've only got £10k to spend" type emails. I've reverted to not publishing my rate as I prefer to discuss rates and billing after initial contact now.
Now I'm living a 1 hour train journey away from central London, I'm also trying out charging a £25/day premium on my standard rate for on-site work. It doesn't completely cover my travel and subsistence costs but it roughly covers the additional cost since I moved outside of the M25. I work from home about 80% of the time anyway and I'm hoping it will result in fewer wasted days spent on-site sitting at a desk doing the same job I could be doing from home without the pointless 2 hour commute and extra expense.
In short, I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss fool's claims as bollocks, I think he/she might just be fortunate enough to work in a sector or have a skill set that is in high demand and was therefore able to chance asking for a higher rate and getting it. Obviously I can't comment on the wider IT contracting market as I only work in a small area of it and I'm not a bum on seat type of contractor doing gigs for big businesses/banks etc. where the market is probably different to mine.
I didn't know what rate to ask for when I left my permie job so starting around £300-400 seemed about right. Over time I've simply increased my rate a) because I can and b) because I think my experience makes me worth the higher rate.
I do have the luxury of having almost all of my clients approach me (either via my website or leads from other developers) and I've only ever done two projects through an agency in the 6 years I've been running my business, one of which was only because I wasn't on my client's preferred supplier list. Most of my clients aren't big enough to have PSLs though.
Upping my rate hasn't reduced the amount of work I get, but I'd say it has lead to better contracts overall. It also gives me a bit of room to negotiate on rate although I'm pretty firm on it. I did experiment with advertising my rate on my website for a while with mixed results - I got fewer enquiries but the ones I did get tended to be higher quality leads. Fewer "I've got an idea for a great new social networking app but I've only got £10k to spend" type emails. I've reverted to not publishing my rate as I prefer to discuss rates and billing after initial contact now.
Now I'm living a 1 hour train journey away from central London, I'm also trying out charging a £25/day premium on my standard rate for on-site work. It doesn't completely cover my travel and subsistence costs but it roughly covers the additional cost since I moved outside of the M25. I work from home about 80% of the time anyway and I'm hoping it will result in fewer wasted days spent on-site sitting at a desk doing the same job I could be doing from home without the pointless 2 hour commute and extra expense.
In short, I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss fool's claims as bollocks, I think he/she might just be fortunate enough to work in a sector or have a skill set that is in high demand and was therefore able to chance asking for a higher rate and getting it. Obviously I can't comment on the wider IT contracting market as I only work in a small area of it and I'm not a bum on seat type of contractor doing gigs for big businesses/banks etc. where the market is probably different to mine.
Comment