This is a great writeup, very thorough. Experience/knowledge aspects aside, professionalism seemed to be the common trait that separates the <$100k from the >$100k consultants. If you're easy to work with, communicative, and responsive — you'll never have a problem finding work. Self discipline seems the big barrier for a lot of people, and after awhile the work-from-home gets lonely.
I don't think estimating is voodoo except at the very start. Log your hours on every project (don't burden yourself, round to the :15). You can't manage what you don't measure; this includes client expectations in regard to project scope / fees. This is where the ad industry has it right, creatives have been beaten down by clients since the dawn of advertising. We're talking centuries of abuse. :)
I usually bucket hours into 3-5 categories per estimate/proposal: client service (meeting/phone calls/etc), consulting, creative, technical, and production. Each valued at their own hourly rate. ($80, $200, $150, $150, $100 respectively). Every proposal has a high-level budget that is approved by the client. When it comes to invoicing however, we bill to-the-hour and aim to invoice 5-10% less than the soft bid if they are a good client. Billing by the hour makes the client much more conscious of feedback and "design by committee".
This works for us, we have pretty good margins when it comes to service related work without getting killed by client demands, paperwork, or tedious processes.
Comments
This is a great writeup, very thorough. Experience/knowledge aspects aside, professionalism seemed to be the common trait that separates the <$100k from the >$100k consultants. If you're easy to work with, communicative, and responsive — you'll never have a problem finding work. Self discipline seems the big barrier for a lot of people, and after awhile the work-from-home gets lonely.
I don't think estimating is voodoo except at the very start. Log your hours on every project (don't burden yourself, round to the :15). You can't manage what you don't measure; this includes client expectations in regard to project scope / fees. This is where the ad industry has it right, creatives have been beaten down by clients since the dawn of advertising. We're talking centuries of abuse. :)
I usually bucket hours into 3-5 categories per estimate/proposal: client service (meeting/phone calls/etc), consulting, creative, technical, and production. Each valued at their own hourly rate. ($80, $200, $150, $150, $100 respectively). Every proposal has a high-level budget that is approved by the client. When it comes to invoicing however, we bill to-the-hour and aim to invoice 5-10% less than the soft bid if they are a good client. Billing by the hour makes the client much more conscious of feedback and "design by committee".
This works for us, we have pretty good margins when it comes to service related work without getting killed by client demands, paperwork, or tedious processes.