Going pay for a part time computer tech?

sweave

hey guys
a person i know recommended me to help a friend of his who runs a local law firm to help setup a server/network for them and most likely to do monthly maintenance.

up until now i've only ever charged for my time for fixing peoples computers but have never done anything on this scale before.

what do you all think i should be asking for my time?
most likely after the initial setup is done i will just have to show up to check on things at least once a month and most likely take questions if problems occur.

thanks

Ryder

This is really up to you, what is your time worth?

If you worked for a local computer repair firm that takes care of small business, you would get billed out at $80 to $120 an hour, plus $45 - $60 an hour travel time (to and from the location of the work).

Now, working for yourself, you can look very attractive to these companies if you offer $30 to $45 an hour because you don't have to pay for the company overhead.
I would be clear that this is a freelance job and that you can't be at their "beckon call" at all hours of the day if they have a problem (unless you can because of flexible first job, etc).
I have done work on the side for years and do take care of a couple small business customers, but they understand that I can't be there within an hour when something goes wrong. If they prefer that level of service, that is when they need the other guys that do it for a living.

Hope that helps.

primesuspect

$120 an hour is pretty much what the going rate around here is.

PirateNinja

I pretty much agree with Ryder.

Given you are an independent with no little prior experience, possible no license, and possibly no certs relevant to server/network environments I would highly highly recommend you start at around $60/hr and as you further legitimize yourself raise your rates.

Most companies are charging 95-150/hr in LA, but they pay their 1099s 30-50.hr out of that, plus they have overhead like rent, biz taxes, liability insurance etc. I'd take advantage of the fact that you don't have that overhead and do some undercutting because they will refer you. When you get to busy, start incrementally raising your rates until you hit 100ish an hour.

That is how I did it when I was in that game, but frankly I am glad I'm out of it.

sweave

thanks guys.
i was thinking around the same area myself.
frankly i dunno what exactly they'll require of me yet but i am assuming the first thing i'm going to do is choose the hardware for them to get and install that. after that's all setup i'm guessing i'll only have to show up for maintenance every couple of weeks or something but frankly i still don't know what it is they want till i talk to them on wednesday

Thrax

Put the terms of your agreement IN WRITING. Do not commit to anything verbal. If you do this work for them, you will be their bitch for every little thing that could possibly go wrong---and it will go wrong.

Butters

Thrax wrote:

you will be their bitch for every little thing that could possibly go wrong---and it will go wrong.

+10

Tushon

That's the "fun" part of doing jobs like this. You take home all the money, but also end up being their go-to anytime sometime messes up. I would recommend getting some remote admin software like logmein/teamviewer (licensed) installed on a workstation/server for your use if you will be supporting them. The key in this arrangement would be to charge an initial "get stuff done" fee, then setup a monthly maintenance contract so that you make sure stuff is working.

dzemomona

I have 70$ per hour.