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So I’ve been in the IT world, working for my current company for 15 years, and have a Systems Admin that works for me, although I do still get the hands very dirty, beyond the project management stuff.

In the past, I’ve done some side jobs, but seemed to walk away feeling like I undercharged for the job, or the client wanted SO MUCH MORE than I had originally quoted or agreed to, making me feel obligated to give him what was wanted. So I stepped away from this kind of work, primarily due to me being young in life and inexperienced at the time. Well things have changed, and I grew a backbone that is understanding and flexible but not something to be walked over.

So anyhow as I mentioned I have a full-time job now as the IT Manager, with some good flex time daily, and working from home a few days a week.

So anyhow, my wife’s CEO, who I’ve known for ten years has always joked about, we need to hire your husband to fix our stuff. Well, that time has come. I’ve not talked to him yet, but plan to in the coming days, so not 100% sure what he needs/wants.

I know they had a part time IT person on staff. He was a kid starting out, going to school for IT and working for them when not in class. So he gave his notice and moving on to the Dream Job. So the CEO asked my wife if she thought I’d be interested in doing some consulting work for them and helping them determine what is needed to move forward. They currently have one of the owners kids who works on setting up PC’s and doing the grunt work, but he has no real knowledge, so this may be a collaboration where I give him tasks to do.

So my question is… normally in my area’s I’d feel comfortable charging $125 -150hr and offering up a block of time purchased at a discounted rate. Now I’ve seen some of you guys are getting a retainer, paid monthly whether used or not. How does that workout??? Is it a lower rate then hourly I assume, and is it a specific number of hours? Do you roll a portion of that time over?

My second question is this. I know little about their network or equipment. My wife works out of the home, and I know their ERP is cloud based, She asked me if it’s normal for IT consultants to charge an assessment fee, and I wasn’t sure. I have searched around a bit online, and finding some network assessment fee in the $1500 range. But wondered for you established consultants, do you charge a fee? If so I assume you also provide a report on your findings?

I’m sure I’ll have ALOT MORE Questions

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When I consulted, I charged $150/hour base. Monthly retainers could go down to $100/hr depending on how big the block was. There was no rollover; the reason I’m charging less is that the retainer makes things predictable. Rollovers would undermine that. Initial consultations and a few hours of checking out the system were usually free. I never did a literal assessment; documenting the systems would be done with normal billed hours and discussed with the client.

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@Thomas2273,

First, congrats on reaching this point in your professional career. It’s always great to hear of other IT professionals who have grown strong on how to deal with customers/clients.

Second, as @Kelly_Holcomb stated, never do a complete site assessment for free. I typically do a free site assessment up to two hours; anything beyond would be billable.

Thirdly, I strongly agree about not rolling forward any hours if you opt for a block-of-hours model. I tried this with several clients, and it always seemed to create conflict. I had a client who purchased a 10 hour block-of-time each month, with the allowance that he could roll over up to 5 hours. The contract was clearly written that he could never have more than 15 hours of banked time. He misunderstood the contract and assumed he could roll over 5 hours each month. After six months of him only using me for 5 hours per month, he laid a project on me that would take approximately 25 hours to complete. He was elated that he wouldn’t have to pay me anymore because he had all these banked hours; or so he thought. I had to point out the language in the contract, as well as the time bank portion of my invoices showing his to total banked hours. Needless to say, he was very unhappy and we parted ways. I offered to give him a discount on the project, but he was beyond reproach (translated, he was mad at himself for not fully understanding the agreement). Also, it is a real accounting hassle to carry forward hours for clients.

Finally, make sure charge what you are worth. For years, I undervalued my skills and time, and ended up working with small mom-and-pops shops, etc. that were very slow in paying, or always wanted more work at no additional cost. In 2010: I grew a spine, did a few assessments of my skills, did my own salary survey in my area of calling other IT vendors, and eventually came up with a per hour rate I was comfortable with. I have never looked back. My client base is stronger than ever and they know they are getting great value for the their money. Very rarely do I have to deal with slow or late payers. On some occasions, I will give a 10-20% discount off my hourly rate; circumstances dictate this action.

Wishing you the best of luck in your endeavors…and, remember:

The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten

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I would agree with the points above, and add a little perspective from buying as many consulting services as I’ve sold.

  • Keep the agreement simple, and walk through it with the the customer to make it crystal clear.
    Most of the time, customers feel nickeled & dimed because the agreement was convoluted and / or they didn’t take time to understand it.
  • Only offer a ‘fixed fee’ where you are certain it will balance out.
    Over time, both you and the customer should get the benefit of predictability, price, cases where it takes longer than expected, and cases where it took less time than expected.
  • When you aren’t sure it will balance out, offer a variable structure, but with clean check points.
    For example, for an undefined or complex project, offer something like:
    “$X per hour for Y weeks. At that point, I’ll document all I did, all I learned, and we’ll re-evaluate”
    To the earlier point “The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten”

Most importantly, build in a regular “health check”, where everyone’s forced to sit down and discuss what’s working, not working, and where there are options to do more or spend less.
If you don’t drive / manage this part of the relationship, someone else will, and it may come as an unpleasant surprise.

Good luck in your endeavors.

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the important thing is to ensure the expectations are clear - at the outset.

you have stated this hasn’t always worked for you in the past. this is usual. its called learning

I haven’t consulted for a while but the other responses have it nailed.

but I suggest this - the past IT guy was a part time dude out of school. there is probably a lot of stuff that hasn’t been done, should have been done, etc.

you need to have a conversation with the CEO - before you start, and understand his mind-set. is he a cheap ass, or does he recognize that you may be opening a can of worms that will cost real money? does he recognize your expertise, or does he think he is doing you a favour?

I repeat - you need to ensure that, before you begin, you have this fundamental information, and understanding. having this at the outset will ensure success for all parties.

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