How much should I charge for....

[MissingGhost]

Hi everybody,
Somebody wants me to build him 14 computers for an "Internet cafe" where people can play games. He wants 10 gaming computer, 3 servers, an office computer and a LAN.
He also wants me to provide support for them, upgrade them when needed and to perform preventive check-ups. He will also upgrade to 20 gaming computers a year after.
My question is: How could I find or do you have informations about how much should I charge for this? For the initial purchase, and for the service after it. Should I charge him by the hour of work, or a fixed fee? I would like to hear from the people that do this kind of job. I will build him 25k$ CAN in computers & lan initially.

 

[Zamboni]

Hi everybody,
Should I charge him by the hour of work, or a fixed fee?

Both. One arrangement we have with some companies is a monthly fee that buys them a certain number of "free" hours. Projects that keep us there past these hours run an hourly fee (or a set price covering just that project). If you think there are 20 hours of work each month, charge $500 a month ($25/hour, adjust as appropriate). He gets a cheap IT department, you get dedicated income plus free time to work on other projects, and he's much less likely to look at outside services if he needs something done.

If it's something that's going to take time, charge by the hour. If it's something you can do quickly, charge a set cost. For example, we've charged a flat $100 fee for unpacking a new computer, updating it and connecting it to the network. For 40 systems, that's $4000. Show up that weekend with four buddies that will work for pizza and $100, and you're done by Saturday afternoon (and $3600 richer).

 

[MissingGhost]

ok so after some discussions with other people, I will probably charge him around 200 per gaming computer and 300 for the servers. I will also charge him a monthy fee for the preventive check ups. Do you think that 40 to 60 $ an hour is ok for the support?

I'm not too sure about your idea Zamboni