Cost to setup a 4 computer network
Condo
Labour to setup a 4 computer network in a small office. This is basically 1
master computer and 3 workstation to be setup mainly for file and printer
sharing. Also I will be doing all the cable runs as well.
Any help in guiding me in how much I should be charging would be greatly
appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Charles Calvert
wrote in <qYFxl.19188$PH1.926@edtnps82>:
>I was wondering if anyone could assist me in how much I should charge in
>Labour to setup a 4 computer network in a small office. This is basically 1
>master computer and 3 workstation to be setup mainly for file and printer
>sharing. Also I will be doing all the cable runs as well.
Are you looking to charge an hourly rate or a fixed bid? How long
will it take you?
The best thing that I can suggest is that you do some research to find
out what your local competitors charge. You can check
<http://www.realrates.com/>. You might be able to get information
from browsing the services offered section of Craigslist.
--
Charles Calvert
Moderator - alt.computer.consultants.moderated
Submission Address: ac...@celticwolf.net
Contact Address: accm...@celticwolf.net
Alun
news:qYFxl.19188$PH1.926@edtnps82...
It's what the dog-eat-dog business world is about. If you quote
too highly, someone else gets the job. If too low, then you kick yourself
when
you find out what others are charging (but as a professional you don't
welch on the deal that you have struck and commit to it with a good will)
Decide what your annual salary is. Divide by 46 (no of working weeks in a
year)
Divide further by 40 (no of working hours per week) and that is what you
charge, plus an allowance for national and local taxation, and your pension
and healthcare contributions.
However, as you are unsure about what you are doing, I'd recommend that
you are covered by professional indemnity insurance as are all we
professionals; especially as you say, "mainly for file and printer
sharing." ... that makes it sound as though you haven't considered security
issues which are very important considerations these days.
No, forget everything that I typed above; I would recommend to your clients
that they should hire a professional consultant who knows what he is about.
Charles Calvert
wrote in <gq86kc$p9a$1...@news.motzarella.org>:
>"Condo" <att....@hotmaill.com> wrote in message
>news:qYFxl.19188$PH1.926@edtnps82...
>>I was wondering if anyone could assist me in how much I should charge in
>>Labour to setup a 4 computer network in a small office. This is basically
>>1 master computer and 3 workstation to be setup mainly for file and
>>printer sharing. Also I will be doing all the cable runs as well.
>> Any help in guiding me in how much I should be charging would be greatly
>> appreciated.
>
>It's what the dog-eat-dog business world is about. If you quote too
>highly, someone else gets the job. If too low, then you kick yourself
>when you find out what others are charging (but as a professional
>you don't welch on the deal that you have struck and commit to it
>with a good will)
Sometimes quoting a low number will prevent you from getting the job
as well. Clients will often use price as an indicator of quality
(rightly or wrongly) and those who are sensitive to quality will pass
over low quotes.
>Decide what your annual salary is. Divide by 46 (no of working weeks
>in a year) Divide further by 40 (no of working hours per week)
>and that is what you charge, plus an allowance for national and
>local taxation, and your pension and healthcare contributions.
I'd say that you should divide by 20 hours a week. I don't know any
consultants who manage to bill 40 hours a week consistently. You have
to spend nonbillable time networking, selling, marketing, writing
proposals, etc.
Note that I'm not counting people who are effectively contract
employees. These are people who spend 40 hours a week at the client's
site and look just like an employee if you don't check their badge or
pay stub.
[snip rest]
Robert W. McAdams
> On Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:33:45 -0000, "Alun" <inv...@invalid.invalid>
> wrote in <gq86kc$p9a$1...@news.motzarella.org>:
>
> as well. Clients will often use price as an indicator of quality
> (rightly or wrongly) and those who are sensitive to quality will pass
> over low quotes.
It should be added that they often do this because they have no other
way to gauge how good you are. Consumer Reports magazine became famous
for its "best buy" rating, indicating that a product that was cheaper
than some of its competition was also as good or better in quality. But
there is no equivalent of Consumer Reports for computer consulting
services, and it isn't likely that there ever will be because of the
large number of splinter-thin specialties there are. And in the absence
of such objective measures of quality, people tend to assume that "you
get what you pay for."
>>Decide what your annual salary is. Divide by 46 (no of working weeks
>>in a year) Divide further by 40 (no of working hours per week)
>>and that is what you charge, plus an allowance for national and
>>local taxation, and your pension and healthcare contributions.
>
>
> I'd say that you should divide by 20 hours a week. I don't know any
> consultants who manage to bill 40 hours a week consistently. You have
> to spend nonbillable time networking, selling, marketing, writing
> proposals, etc.
If a consultant is working mainly short-term contracts (as I'd guess
would be true in this case), it's likely that a significant portion of
each work week is going to be unbillable. If a consultant is working
mainly long-term contracts, there may be weeks when nearly all time is
billable, but there are also likely to be weeks when NO time is
billable, since it's pretty hard to line up full-time contracts
back-to-back. (A building contractor may be able to do that because
it's usually not a disaster if somebody has to wait a few months to get
an addition put on their house. But when somebody calls a computer
consultant, it's usually because they have a problem that needs to be
addressed pretty quickly, so if you're not going to be available for a
couple of months, chances are they'll look for somebody else.)
Be aware that networking, selling, marketing, writing proposals, etc.
usually also costs money. You're likely to have more expenses than just
national and local taxes and pension and health insurance payments! I'd
estimate that I receive only about $2 in salary for every $3 my company
receives in revenues.
Bob McAdams
Fambright
Tony
Without any new PCs or Servers: around $2500. (It sounds like a disaster in
the making though as micro "businesses" aren't really in business at all:
they are like you were when you had your first job as an employee: learning
and being too cheap, not having a biz plan, don't know what IT is, etc).
Tony
Charles Calvert
the OP or anyone else.]
On Mon, 23 Mar 2009 16:20:16 -0500, "Robert W. McAdams"
<r...@fambright.com> wrote in <49C7FD10...@fambright.com>:
>Charles Calvert wrote:
>> On Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:33:45 -0000, "Alun" <inv...@invalid.invalid>
>> wrote in <gq86kc$p9a$1...@news.motzarella.org>:
>>
>> Sometimes quoting a low number will prevent you from getting the job
>> as well. Clients will often use price as an indicator of quality
>> (rightly or wrongly) and those who are sensitive to quality will pass
>> over low quotes.
>
>It should be added that they often do this because they have no other
>way to gauge how good you are. Consumer Reports magazine became famous
>for its "best buy" rating, indicating that a product that was cheaper
>than some of its competition was also as good or better in quality. But
>there is no equivalent of Consumer Reports for computer consulting
>services, and it isn't likely that there ever will be because of the
>large number of splinter-thin specialties there are. And in the absence
>of such objective measures of quality, people tend to assume that "you
>get what you pay for."
This is a good point. There are a couple of other things that
contribute to the equation. How much they influence the client's
decision will depend on the client.
Those things are, in my experience, your references and how you
conduct yourself in the initial dealings with the clients.
Good references can really help to overcome the client's fears about
hiring a consultant or contractor. Since most clients have no way to
evaluate your technical skills, hearing good things about you from
current or former clients goes a long way. That is especially true if
the reference is someone that the prospective client knows personally.
Social skills also help quite a bit. Showing up on time, following up
when you say you will, listening to the client, dressing
appropriately, etc. help make a good impression on the client. If you
do these things correctly, it can allay fears that you're unreliable,
sloppy, etc.
Since a lot of us are computer geeks who've gone into business, this
last part can be the hardest. It's important, though, as we're rarely
selling to other computer geeks. We're usually selling to managers
who pay attention to things like attire, firm handshakes and the
ability to speak English rather than techy.
Charles Calvert
<e%0yl.10515$%54.1...@nlpi070.nbdc.sbc.com>:
>
>"Condo" <att....@hotmaill.com> wrote in message
>news:qYFxl.19188$PH1.926@edtnps82...
>>I was wondering if anyone could assist me in how much I should charge in
>>Labour to setup a 4 computer network in a small office. This is basically
>>1 master computer and 3 workstation to be setup mainly for file and
>>printer sharing. Also I will be doing all the cable runs as well.
>>
>> Any help in guiding me in how much I should be charging would be greatly
>> appreciated.
>>
>> Thanks in advance,
>
>Without any new PCs or Servers: around $2500.
Note that this is going to vary quite a bit with geography. The going
market rate in St. Louis is going to be very different from the rate
in Manhattan.