FreeLists / webproducers / [webproducers] Re: fwd: proposal pricing question

["Michael J. Shirey" <mshirey@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Can you build a contingency into your proposal?  Give an average "per page"
cost or something to that effect?  Insist that the pricing can change as the
scope changes?  Make sure you have a "change form" handy for when this
happens.

I can see two reasons why people would make such vague requests.  One is so
that they can change their minds but hold you to a price.  The other, and
more common, is when the clients simply do not know enough to provide a
solid request.

The result is the same, and both sides need to be prepared for the changes
that will incur.

Michael Shirey
Web Producer
http://www.maertz.net

-----Original Message-----
From: webproducers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:webproducers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Katherine Gray
Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2003 6:15 PM
To: webproducers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [webproducers] Re: fwd: proposal pricing question


>>Now the point is the following. How do I price the work in order to outbid
other porposals and avoid shooting myself in the foot ?

You may not be able to do both. Concentrate on developing a budget that's
accurate in terms of hours and priced so you can turn a profit. Pitch your
best ideas and charge what you need to charge to be profitable. If you
don't, you're setting yourself up for managing a client with unrealistic
expectations and losing money. If the client isn't interested in your
approach, or can't afford your services, move on. It's better to keep
searching for work that fits your company than filling up your team's
capacity on money-losing projects.

There are exceptions to this rule, of course. There are reasons to take on a
client or project other than immediate profitability (immediate cash flow,
building a relationship, publicizing a high-profile job).  If none of these
things apply, just charge what you need to charge to be profitable.



----- Original Message -----
  From: m o r r y
  To: webproducers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2003 1:24 PM
  Subject: [webproducers] fwd: proposal pricing question



  I wanted to forward this question to the list because I thought it would
be
  an interesting point of discussion.
  I did not write I'm just forwarding it along.
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
  ---------------------------------------

  ...Bidding for the development of a web site. It includes some layout work
  (design is done by others) and quite a bit of server side work. Making
  abstraction from layout (it not yet clear how many pages there will be) I
  need to implement the following modules:

  - search module (generation of a listing of clips from a database back
end.
  Clip database is created by someone else)
   - shopping cart module (generation of a list of selected items)
   - mail module (need to send information at check out time to the site
  administrator about users' selections)
   - users database generation and management (database keeping track of the
  user )
   - admin interface (inclusive of the ability to manage the databases and
run
  a routine matching clip database info with file archive)

   Now the point is the following. How do I price the work in order to
outbid
  other porposals and avoid shooting myself in the foot ?
   Any idea about average development cost for small web site that are
  inclusive of a server component ?

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Questions and comments are welcome just e-mail  info at webproducers dot org

__________________________________________________________________________
To unsubscribe send a blank message with unsubscribe in the subject to 
webproducers-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

To access our webform (instead of sending e-mail) for popular commands 
including subscribe, unsubscribe, digest, and vacation  visit  
www.WebProducers.org. You can also access the list archive at the website.

Questions and comments are welcome just e-mail  info at webproducers dot org