hourly rates

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nomak

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 20, 2004
Messages
419
where would one find out information on what kind of hourly rates to charge for computer services in a their area.. thanks.
 
You have to find out how compupter techs in the area advertise themselves.
any kind of local newspaper with a classified section would be the first place to look.
Phone books as well will have a lot of info, and may give you their websites to check out if any.

 
I charge $105 per hour. I think most techs undercharge for fear of losing business. When our firm started 10 years ago, we charged $40 per hour. Every time we have increased our rates, our business has only gone up. We send all of our clients a notice of the rate increase and somehow they end up calling us more often. When you charge less than everyone else, the clients have a sense that you must be less experienced than everyone else. We charge more than most of our competition and we still get more business. Our revenue has increased 20% every year we have been in business.
Moral of the story is don't be afraid to charge on the high side.
just my 2 cents
Anyway what city are you in?
ribs
 
ribs1 said:
Anyway what city are you in?
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Yeah, good point. If you are in a big city like LA or Houston, you chances of survival are slim since everyone goes there. Now if you were in a small rich town such as the outskirts of D/FW, or maybe town full of ignorant computer people then your chances of survival are much higher.
 
At work, we have contractors that do the odd bit of work for us that charge $70/hr.

When I do freelance work outside of my day job, I pocket every bit of the money (taxes?what taxes?) and charge $50/hr.
 
Im in southern IN and just doing odds and ends things on pc's... virus and spyware removal running small networks and things of that nature..thanks,,
 
Check for compettetion in your area, and base your prices around that. If you have a lot of compettitors, maybe start at $35/hour. If only a few, $50/hour. If there's no compettetion, $70-$100/hour.
 
sac_tagg said:
Check for compettetion in your area, and base your prices around that. If you have a lot of compettitors, maybe start at $35/hour. If only a few, $50/hour. If there's no compettetion, $70-$100/hour.
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Do not start at $35 per hour. No matter what the competition is. People do not decide who there computer guy should be based on price. They decide based on perceived experience.
Like I said, I charge $105 per hour and my clients are happy to pay it as long as I get there problem solved. People will go with the guy they think will solve the problem in the least amount of time. They don't go with the cheapest. I live in Ann Arbor Michigan and there are 100's of computer guys around here (University Town). Competition is not a huge factor in this business. Experience and customer service is.
I would start no less than $85 per hour. You can't cover all of your expensed and pay yourself a decent wage if you charge less than $85

ribs
 
I've gotten away with $100 hour two hours minimum in some parts of town
 
paulmr said:
I've gotten away with $100 hour two hours minimum in some parts of town
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I second that. I usually have a 1hr minimum, but if I have to drive more than 15 miles I go with a 2 hr minimum. You gotta cover your costs. (gas is not getting any cheaper)
ribs
 
Most people that are out of the loop WONT pay $100 plus. UNLESS you show them the price chart that BestBuy charges for the same services and look prepared. Bring a bag with everything you will need and look professional. If not expect $20/hr.
 
nomak said:
where would one find out information on what kind of hourly rates to charge for computer services in a their area.. thanks.
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Find out what BB and such charges. Undercut them and build up a good reputation.

I fixed one woman's computer at the clinic my wife works at and charged her $45. She was very happy and told everyone else about me. As of today, I've gotten $45 from almost everyone at the clinic just to run ad-aware and AVG. :p
 
Sînt@x said:
Find out what BB and such charges. Undercut them and build up a good reputation.

I fixed one woman's computer at the clinic my wife works at and charged her $45. She was very happy and told everyone else about me. As of today, I've gotten $45 from almost everyone at the clinic just to run ad-aware and AVG. :p
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I charge no less than $105 to run Ad-Aware and AVG. Usually $150-$200. Everyone I work for tells there friends about me. I have no interest in undercutting best buy. I AM interested in giving better and faster service than best buy. Do not try to be the cheapest. Try to be the best. You have to think about how many hours you can really bill for in a day. 4 billable hours in a day is a good day. At $45 per billable, you are really working for peanuts and would do better working a reel job for a bigger company. To make real money you need to charge no less than $85 per hour. I keep saying I charge more than anyone else in more area and I keep getting more new business than I can handle. If you want to work for peanuts than listen to these other guys.
$45 per job is fine if you are doing this on the side, but at that rate you will end up making about 20-25k a year. A good computer tech deserves 45-70k a year and that's about what the techs in my company make (there are 5 of us) To get to that salary you need to bill $85-$105 per hour. Have you ever called a plumber? Do you think they deserve more money than us? A plumber usually won't come to your house for less than 300-400 bucks
ribs
 
Umm, yeah. I am a tech myself, but if my toilet doesn't work, there is a MAJOR problem!

In all seriousness, I work one full time and three part time jobs (one of which is my side computer business), so I naturally charge less since the people I visit have to work around MY schedule. If you are in that boat, then set your rates based on what you think you deserve. I also offer senior citizens in nursing homes a discount for calling me there since they are usually really nice and mostly broke from the private care. If you are doing this full time, do it right and charge more.

IF you are REALLY that good, word will get around. Decide if you make house calls, whether you want the hassle of businesses (can be very bad or good, depending), and make sure you charge what's optimal for the area. Sure ribs1 can charge $105, but I could too in Ann Arbor. Try that in Kalamazoo, however and you will get three jobs a year; I know because my coworker charges that so people will leave him alone and that's what keeps his business quiet. I get all his business instead now. Fine by me, because I just want some extra cash to work with and work three nights a week at it.
 
brasherman said:
Umm, yeah. I am a tech myself, but if my toilet doesn't work, there is a MAJOR problem!

In all seriousness, I work one full time and three part time jobs (one of which is my side computer business), so I naturally charge less since the people I visit have to work around MY schedule. If you are in that boat, then set your rates based on what you think you deserve. I also offer senior citizens in nursing homes a discount for calling me there since they are usually really nice and mostly broke from the private care. If you are doing this full time, do it right and charge more.

IF you are REALLY that good, word will get around. Decide if you make house calls, whether you want the hassle of businesses (can be very bad or good, depending), and make sure you charge what's optimal for the area. Sure ribs1 can charge $105, but I could too in Ann Arbor. Try that in Kalamazoo, however and you will get three jobs a year; I know because my coworker charges that so people will leave him alone and that's what keeps his business quiet. I get all his business instead now. Fine by me, because I just want some extra cash to work with and work three nights a week at it.
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I agree with you for the most part except for the fact that my firm has clients all along the I94 corridor from Detroit all the way to Benton Harbor/St. Joseph. Including Jackson, Battlecreek and K-Zoo. We have 2 clients in Kalamazoo, both mortgage companies. We charge them $105 per hour also. I will admit that it does take a while to build up a customer base who trusts you and is willing to pay your rates. Also I will mention that our clients in K-Zoo and Jackson are branch offices of Mortgage companies here in Ann Arbor (clients that we had before).

Also, a business who's network is down is a much more serious problem to them than a broken toilet. As you may have noticed many of my clients are mortgage companies. When their network is down, they cannot process their loans. That translates into thousands of dollars per hour. They are willing to pay my rate because of the trust that I have built up and they know I can get their problem fixed quickly.

We are planning to increase our rates starting April 15 and as I said before, every time I send out a notice to all of my clients of the rate increase, we somehow end up doing more business. I guess we can charge the high rates because we have been in business 15 yrs and we have focused our marketing on higher profit businesses (mortgage firms, lawyers, realtors, hotels)

I also donate my time to a couple nonprofit organizations (we also donate extra computers) It makes you feel good and it's also a great way to get referals for paying clients.

I just want to make the point that us computer techs often sell ourselves short. I believe we are more skilled than electricians, plumbers, mechanics, and many other skilled technicians and we all deserve to get payed on the level that they do or more.

Thats all I got to say
ribs
 
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