3dmagicaldesign
New Member
When you are at the office working on some project and you get a call or email from a potential customer asking for a quote what do you do? how do you charge him? which parameters should you use to obtain good profits and the most important thing: get the client?
There are many parameters that you need to consider:
I have readed different opinions on the internet and many of them agree that you need to follow a sequence so you can charge properly without overbill your potential customer. The fact is seek for the ideal balance considering some aspects exposed below:
* Time and Resources
It is one of the most important aspects to consider, that's what you will spend developing the project. Since your client gives the OK to start with the project's development you need to consider the project features and pay attention to the following items:
For the last item you will have cases where your client doesn't even have the text in any electronic format ( which means more work for you)
As far as resources: if you are a freelancer, think about the expenses that will come from your pocket ( internet access, software, etc). This may seem a minor expense, but be careful! calculate this monthly, you will notice that the price that you were considering as "profitable" has been spent in transportation, gas, electricity, etc
* Don't standard your projects
There are many answers regarding this topic, I have read about opinions that talk about find a way to standard the design costs but let me tell you that there is not an idea or software that can provide an accurate idea, the designers deal with creativity and it is something almost evil that you have to put a price to your ideas.
An intangible product like Web Design can't be standard, it is too difficult overall because you handle different projects, different people, strategic alliances, casual or sporadic clients, family clients, colleagues collaboration, outsourcing, etc. A time will come where the fees will become standard, in the meantime we will have to base this in our vision to quote, you will need to be ready to lose some profits and gain experience.
There are many parameters that you need to consider:
- Time that you or your company will spend developing this project.
- Your customer ( company or person), it is obvious that you can charge different depending on the customer, you can't charge the same to Pepsi than to your neighbor or to a starter company.
I have readed different opinions on the internet and many of them agree that you need to follow a sequence so you can charge properly without overbill your potential customer. The fact is seek for the ideal balance considering some aspects exposed below:
* Time and Resources
It is one of the most important aspects to consider, that's what you will spend developing the project. Since your client gives the OK to start with the project's development you need to consider the project features and pay attention to the following items:
- Software to use
- Pictures processing
- Text for the website
For the last item you will have cases where your client doesn't even have the text in any electronic format ( which means more work for you)
As far as resources: if you are a freelancer, think about the expenses that will come from your pocket ( internet access, software, etc). This may seem a minor expense, but be careful! calculate this monthly, you will notice that the price that you were considering as "profitable" has been spent in transportation, gas, electricity, etc
* Don't standard your projects
There are many answers regarding this topic, I have read about opinions that talk about find a way to standard the design costs but let me tell you that there is not an idea or software that can provide an accurate idea, the designers deal with creativity and it is something almost evil that you have to put a price to your ideas.
An intangible product like Web Design can't be standard, it is too difficult overall because you handle different projects, different people, strategic alliances, casual or sporadic clients, family clients, colleagues collaboration, outsourcing, etc. A time will come where the fees will become standard, in the meantime we will have to base this in our vision to quote, you will need to be ready to lose some profits and gain experience.
Last edited:
