what should I charge for database development?

[splats]

Hello

I am just starting out in the Canadian IT industry. I have my first contract job to develop a database in access. So here's my question. What should I charge and how should I charge to get the job done? I want to be fair and at the same time not get taken advantage of by offering too cheap of a rate. I am assuming that I would charge by the hour for my services. I am very interested in what you have to say. thanks for your input!

 

[olded]

Tinat:

How much you charge depends on a lot of things - hardware and software environment (an Oracle person typically makes more than an Access person), location (Los Angeles costs more than Podunk, South Dakota), industry, etc.

Based on my U.S. experience - $35.00 per hour is way too little and $120 is too much (unless you can get it). The average in the U.S. is probably somewhere between $60.00 & $80.00 per hour)

Myself, I prefer hourly, but sometimes you might contract by the job. If you contract by the job, make sure you get in writing exactly what is expected from both parties. It's best to have a completed spec. Have down in writing a change order process. Finally, don't forget documentation if it's required.

Regards,


Ed

 

[Gatorajc]

Like most things in IT is is really hard to say.

I would say charge hourly.

This is how I did figued out what I was going to charge. Might work for you.

Find out what the average salary of a DB designer, administrator, whatever, that information should be on some government web site. It will probably be yearly so break it down into hourly.

Then subtract from it since you are just starting out, how much is up to you but think about if you were doing the hiring, and subtract a little since it is ACCESS, you don't have to but I do Access, MySql, MS Sql Server so I charge depending on which one it is.

At the very least this should give you a starting point about what to charge.
AJ

 

[Advocate]

tell you what i done several years ago ...

decided on patience and progression path

decide what weekly salary you need to survive

divide this by the hours in your normal working week

this should give you MINIMUM hourly rate and you can then
use this as a benchmark

consider starting low and then increase rates as you go to next contract

my hourly rate went from x to 5x over 3 years ...

essential to get repeat direct contracts
Best of Irish Luck, David.
djwilkes@hotmail.com