Your Roadmap To Success: How To Know Your Charge Out Rate

1. Ask yourself “what am I worth?”, and consider the customer's perspective when determining the value of the product you are creating or service you are providing. Ultimately, charging what you are worth is more beneficial than simply focusing on how much time it takes to complete a job.

2. Switching from an hourly rate to charging by the project can help business owners maximise their earnings while still valuing their work. When charging the client, focus on what the job or product is worth to them, rather than how much time it took to complete. This will ensure that you are compensated for your skills and knowledge, and that you have more control over your income potential.

3. To protect yourself from flaky clients, it is important to have a process in place. This should include getting paid a portion of the project before any work begins and not making a site live until fully paid. Establishing clear guidelines about timeline expectations, additional changes and edits, and other penalties for delinquent projects can help ensure that you are adequately compensated for your services. Finally, having a solid contract in place will spell out all of this so you are protected and can better justify your price tag.

4. Connecting with clients, getting proposals approved and completing a project is often a laborious process, so it's essential to add value for the client in order to make the most of each opportunity. Examples of value-adding services could include helping automate processes or tasks, providing data analysis and insights from past projects, or implementing customised solutions which suit their needs. By offering these services, you are not only adequately compensated for your work but are also helping your clients benefit from increased efficiency and improved performance over the long term.

5. Outsource what you can and mark up on all projects so that each one makes money for you. It is important to ensure that your fixed cost includes a profit margin as well.