I know it's bordeline off topic, but this is a subject which concerns
many and is not frequently discussed.
How about: bid the project at your usual rate, but bid a much lower
rate beyond the expected project duration. This gives the client a fair
fee for service, but protects both sides from a screw-up, while
"punishing" the contractor (me) for screwing up the bid. You still have
to manage the project's scope and snuff the usual creeping featuritis,
of course.
(My research indicates that $50/hr is still roughly the baseline -
clients can get students or hackers to do their work much more cheaply,
but may not get professional quality. This of course varies by location
and economic conditions, but not widely as I've seen.)
Doing my first PHP project as a contractor, just a small scope re-write
of a very complicated form, I bid $40/hr for the first 25 hours, then
$15/hr afterwards. As I gain experience with the language, I'll move my
prices up. My first client accepts the bidding and thinks it's
reasonable and effective.
Any feedback from experienced independent contractors is most welcome!
--
--
Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall
"I'm not proud. We really haven't done everything we could to protect
our customers. Our products just aren't engineered for security."
--Microsoft VP in charge of Windows OS Development, Brian Valentine.