How much to charge, monthly, for being a part-time sys & network admin for small biz?

R

RavinDJ

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Apr 9, 2002
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So I become the official 'go to' guy for all technology needs for this small biz. Instead of charging them for each time I spend 30-45 minutes on the phone with them and each time I have to visit them, am I better off charging them a standard monthly charge? If so, why? And if so, how much?

Thanks!
 
Upside: guaranteed money
Downside: they'll find stupid reasons to call you in every single day.

I don't personally think you'll be able to set a pay rate that makes the downside worthwhile but they'll still be willing to pay. They'll want something comparable to their monthly costs currently but with a higher workload.

Color me cynical, but I'd stick with the per-event pay system unless you get a really good rate.
 
Anything under $80/hour with a 1 hour minimum per call isn't worth my time.
 
Darkstar850 said:
What is your age/educational/experience/industry certification status?
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This would be helpful to know. If you're a CCIE\CNE\MCSE\etc then it's easier to make a guess. I personally charge as follows (and I got this from someone else, but I don't remember who, so if that person sees this then thanks!):

$25\hr for me to fix
$35\hr for me to tell you how to fix it (cause it'll prob take more time)
$45\hr to fix it if you've already tried and failed (but told me)
$55\hr to fix it if you've tried and failed and didn't tell me

It's up to you, but I'd try and find a reasonable rate (take a look at Best Buy and undercut them, at least for hardware stuff) and stick to it.
 
phatrabt said:
This would be helpful to know. If you're a CCIE\CNE\MCSE\etc then it's easier to make a guess. I personally charge as follows (and I got this from someone else, but I don't remember who, so if that person sees this then thanks!):

$25\hr for me to fix
$35\hr for me to tell you how to fix it (cause it'll prob take more time)
$45\hr to fix it if you've already tried and failed (but told me)
$55\hr to fix it if you've tried and failed and didn't tell me

It's up to you, but I'd try and find a reasonable rate (take a look at Best Buy and undercut them, at least for hardware stuff) and stick to it.
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don't forget

125$\hr if u want to try and help

:)

i saw a sign like that at a mechanic's once.. its quite funny.
 
If you want to set up a service contract then DO NOT leave it open ended or they will just bug the hell out of you since they will feel entitled. Make the contract for X hours per month with any overages at a rate of Y per hour.

Something like 4 hrs per month for $250 and each additional hour over 4 @ $60 per hour.

Feel free to insert your own numbers in there. Just keep track of your time well so that when you pass the magic threshold and start billing them hourly you can document it in your bill.
 
phatrabt said:
This would be helpful to know. If you're a CCIE\CNE\MCSE\etc then it's easier to make a guess. I personally charge as follows (and I got this from someone else, but I don't remember who, so if that person sees this then thanks!):

$25\hr for me to fix
$35\hr for me to tell you how to fix it (cause it'll prob take more time)
$45\hr to fix it if you've already tried and failed (but told me)
$55\hr to fix it if you've tried and failed and didn't tell me

It's up to you, but I'd try and find a reasonable rate (take a look at Best Buy and undercut them, at least for hardware stuff) and stick to it.
Click to expand...


Forgot one... and its my SOP in the field...
$75/Hour if you have to call me to fix it when they tried to fix it, failed, and didn't tell you :)
 
And of course the rate if they thought about telling you but decided against it
Or if they broke it, fixed it, but then broke it again while they were calling to tell you about.

Honestly, that is a ridiculous way to price your services. At least as a professional. That kind of chart might work if all your doing is working on your families PC's, or your best friends. Nope, even then it's absurd.
 
Veeb0rg said:
don't forget

125$\hr if u want to try and help

:)

i saw a sign like that at a mechanic's once.. its quite funny.
Click to expand...

Wow, another from Maryland. There is a ton of us here.

As for pricing, $100/hour purchasable in 10 hour blocks. Works well with SMBs.

For system repair, I like what phatrabt uses, although it seems a bit low.

For a general rule of thumb, I suggest looking at the service required and comparing it to a car. For example, if you're cleaning up spyware, virii, and spritzing things up in the OS, I liken it to changing the oil and doing a full detail. Those would cost you about $120 - $150, which is a reasonable cost for similar work done on a PC. If its an Enterprise class system such as a SUN or ALPHA (possibly HP-UX or Solaris), the cost goes up significantly, primarily because the skills needed to work on those OSes are rare when compared to a commodity OS like Windows. Think how much more it would cost to get the oil changed and a detail done on a Ferrari. That's a fair analogy of how I see pricing.
 
I would go with the xamount of hours per month for x amount of $ per month, if over xamount of hours rate is $xhr.

This is how we do it with some of our customers, just be sure to check in with them periodically. Just gives them a reasurance that they are getting there money's worth.

The only downside to this is if the think they arn't getting there money's worth they will start calling you on the stupidest things.
 
The only downside to this is if the think they arn't getting there money's worth they will start calling you on the stupidest things.
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That's why we have rollover from month to month. But you're right about checking in every once in a while. Idealy you're not supposed to be called in as a firefighter. You're job should be regular stops to do a backup or edit accounts, or whatever it is you've contracted to do, but on a weekly, or monthly basis. This eliminates the need of time rollover. If they bought 10 hours that month, then you come in for 2.5 hours once a week, or somethink similar so the time balances out. If you get called in to put out a fire and it uses up their time for the month, oh well. That's the risk they take of not having their own IT staff.
 
Darkstar850 said:
What is your age/educational/experience/industry certification status?
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the input, guys!!

Age: 23
Edu: B.S. Computer Science, Minor in Business Management & Entrepreneurship
Exp: Fixing sh*t since age 14
Certs: None

They love me, only after 2 full days of work. But, I want to be fair and want them to stay with me long term, hopefully for the next 30 years until I retire :p

I was talking to one of my friend's dad... he worked as a consultant for Morgen Stanley for the last 9 years... he charged like $150-$300/hour... crazy! He told me to go a conservative $50/hour... also, I don't think I'm gonna do the monthly contract. Then, again... once I can do remote desktop on their PC's, I could probably do a monthly contract. I was thinking $250/month... how many hours should I give them? Should I use the normal rate of $50/hr to make it 5 hours? Or maybe give them 6?

Thanks!
 
Sounds alot like me. I'm only slightly older.
I was BA Business IS & Finance. Comp Sci at my school was pure programming, which I wasn't in to.
So, are you going to do freelance consulting for multiple small businesses, or do you have a full time job as well? If you have a full time job as well, good luck. I am the unofficial IT guy for my dad's small business. I have spent many the lunch time or evening on the phone remotely troubleshooting a problem.
50 an hour is not an unreasonable rate. Heck, I charge my dad 25 an hour when I come into his office to do major work. My mechanic for my car is 80, and a hydraulic tech is at least 70-85.
 
Darkstar850 said:
Sounds alot like me. I'm only slightly older.
I was BA Business IS & Finance. Comp Sci at my school was pure programming, which I wasn't in to.
So, are you going to do freelance consulting for multiple small businesses, or do you have a full time job as well? If you have a full time job as well, good luck. I am the unofficial IT guy for my dad's small business. I have spent many the lunch time or evening on the phone remotely troubleshooting a problem.
50 an hour is not an unreasonable rate. Heck, I charge my dad 25 an hour when I come into his office to do major work. My mechanic for my car is 80, and a hydraulic tech is at least 70-85.
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Well, I did mostly programming @ Hopkins, but I learned a lot on my own. I neither needed nor wanted any certs, since most people hear Johns Hopkins and they automatically feel quality... but, that doesn't necessarily mean that every person that comes out of JHU knows his or her field.

As for full time job... my company is my full time job :D I'm also a Financial Rep for PFS (Primerica Financial Services), but I only do that part-time. As much money as there is in life insurance, home mortgages, debt elimination, and investments (saving for college and retirement), I love computers wayyyy tooooo much to just leave them and do financial sh*t for a living, ya know? At the same time... being licensed in NJ, NY, MD, and DC, does have its benefits :p

Going back... these people first called me up to do their site for them, but then they found out I do other stuff and now they love me. So, that's how I came to become their IT guy.

Thanks for the input!
 
I normally charge $65 an hour but am considering moving up to $75 an hour. As for monthly contracts? Hmmmmmm

$700.00 a month in 10 hour blocks
$2500.00 in 40 hour blocks (gotta pay rent :D WOOT!)

John O"Hara
Datasoul Networks, LLC
DataForge Systems, LLC
(856)506-0064
Millville, NJ 08332
 
I love service contracts, and so do my clients- it provides them with a predictable monthly support cost. I set the guidelines of what I will provide for the fee, and that it will include those services as well as phone / help desk support. I can usually perform all monthly contract work remotely, so I don't have to figure travel costs.

Depending on their abilities, and how much "hand-holding" they'll require, I usually calculate contracts at 1 to 1.5 hr/month per PC, and 4 hours / mo per server. So, a 12 user network at say 1.25/hr / mo., with 2 servers = 15 hr, + 8 hrs. for the servers, = 23 hours/month. My normal rate around home is $90/hr., so that = $2,070 per month. This will include whatever they need in terms of maintenance, updates, etc. New installs, major software or hardware upgrades are additional at rate.
 
twwabw said:
I love service contracts, and so do my clients- it provides them with a predictable monthly support cost. I set the guidelines of what I will provide for the fee, and that it will include those services as well as phone / help desk support. I can usually perform all monthly contract work remotely, so I don't have to figure travel costs.

Depending on their abilities, and how much "hand-holding" they'll require, I usually calculate contracts at 1 to 1.5 hr/month per PC, and 4 hours / mo per server. So, a 12 user network at say 1.25/hr / mo., with 2 servers = 15 hr, + 8 hrs. for the servers, = 23 hours/month. My normal rate around home is $90/hr., so that = $2,070 per month. This will include whatever they need in terms of maintenance, updates, etc. New installs, major software or hardware upgrades are additional at rate.
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Damn... and I was thinking that asking $250/month would be too much from these people :confused:
 
It depends on what you know. You may have been fixing computers on your own for years, and have the education, but not know shit about actual administration in a multi-user environment. Considering you don't have anythin on your resume besides "I went to school" and "I'm a geek", I'd say $50/hr is plenty good (my first gig was at $20). You start charging more & you enter into the price-range of people who actually know what they're doing & have been at it for a while.
 
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