even though we’re in disparate businesses, i couldn’t agree with you more.

i create training products, and like all noobs, have undercut myself. i then find myself doing revisions and post-delivery documentation that i don’t get paid for.

thankfully, first time bitten, first time learned.

but i would emphasise to all SMEs and freelancers that they meticulously record all the time they spend on a project. after which, they have a real benchmark for future quotes, and muscle to include flexible rates on development.

all the best.

I don’t think there will ever be a “web factory”. Look at writing a book, that industry has been around for hundreds of years but we still need people to combine skills to create the final product.

Do you think that the reason we have to charge by the hour, instead of a fixed rate, is because the market is not fully defined. Perhaps we wear too many hats as freelancers, when really, we could approach it as a factory where each person has a specific task to do.

Can you imagine the inefficiency in a market if there was never a fixed price, but the price per widget always fluctuated from one client to the next? I think that just means there hasn’t been enough specialization, and so the variables are unknown, which means you can’t say exactly what it will cost because you don’t have enough information and can’t make a sufficient prediction.

Maybe someone should start a web factory where hyper specialized technicians only add a closing tag on all open tags, or a person that makes sure each website has a header tag, etc.,

Do you know if there’s a web company like that?

Great articles. Hope you don’t mind me rambling.

Yes, I’m a corporate web designer by day. But I’ve freelanced here and there, over the past few years. That’s why my blog focuses so much on the ’side work’ aspect of doing 9-to-5. Anyhow, I basically structure my estimates like so:

The SPECS clearly define my role, what I’m being asked to produce, any production timeline, and how many versions/revisions they get in this package deal.

That last part is very important, because under my estimated FEE–which these days is usually a ballpark range, to play it safe–is where I put my standard ‘excessive revisions’ statement: “Work outside the scope detailed above will be billed additionally at $XX/hour…” (I like to think that scares clients into being more thoughtful with their requests.)

Then my TERMS usually spell out 1) when the job is considered final, 2) when payment is due, 3) what happens if the job is terminated, 4) etcetera.

Finally, a friendly NOTE reminds the client that “any changes to the specs herein will require a NEW estimate to be approved–via signature–before any work can begin.” (This usually keeps the client pretty prompt in getting back with their approval.)

Especially for smaller jobs, estimates are a thing of beauty. One, they let the client know you are a serious, organized professional. Two, they tend to ‘weed out the riffraff’ of clients who aren’t serious themselves. And three, a thorough and thoughtful estimate can be a blueprint for the entire job!

How exactly are your writing your estimates to protect yourself? We have a template I am going to post soon but I would love to see what you did. Anything that helps the experience of fixed bid be a more positive one is worth posting.

So, you are working in-house at a firm and free lancing on the side?

My first web-oriented job, I underestimated my hours BIG-TIME! (Not for the initial design/layout work, but for the rounds of revisions that came after!) But knowing that this would probably happen, I drew up a pretty airtight set of terms and had them signed by the client before beginning any work. This saved me from having to eat 4 hours of a 16-hour job!

Looking back, I probably should have tried to negotiate an hourly contract, as I was unfamiliar with estimating for web work. But even so, one the realities of working on fixed bid is that you’re always at risk of going over your hours–because the responsibility’s all on you. That’s why it’s ultra-important to lay out terms that will protect you when/if this happens.

I list my terms right there on the estimate itself. And even though a ’signed’ estimate is no substitute for an actual contract, I usually require the client’s signature on the agreed estimate anyhow–just so I know they’ve read, understand, and agree to these terms.

A successful ‘fixed’ estimate must include terms that protect yourself against the parts of a job that will always be hard to ‘estimate.’ (Such as feature creep, excessive revisions, etc.) Without that in place, you’ll get screwed every time…

(Shane, this is another great post. Is it okay if I reference it on my blog at http://www.theinhouser.blogspot.com/ ? I’ve just started writing a series of articles related to this very topic.)

I almost don’t want to work with a client that doesn’t want a budget estimate, because it shows they don’t have much business experience, and may not be able to pay when it comes time.

I now split my projects about 50/50 with per hour and per contract. The difference is that almost any change someone wants is responded with “option X wasn’t originally requested it will cost $Y to implement, and take an extra Z hours/days”. This is responded with usually “OK” or “Thanks, but I guess it isn’t that important.”

e.g. “I estimate this project will take 100 hours at $100 an hour”