How charge for services?

[Skilgannon]

Hello all

Right this might be a very strange question, but here goes ....

I have started a IT repair/support business on the side. It ranges from standard IT hardware installation to networking, server/client configuration and more.

My question is how should I charge? Do I just set a standard hourly rate or do I apply different charges for different types of work or an hourly rate plus an additional charge for the job at hand?

I service both private and small businesses. Dont get me wrong, as I am starting up, my client base is still very small, but it will grow and I will need to have a more professional approach when asked what my charges are rather than not being sure.

Does anyone out there have a kind of similar business and would you mind me asking how you apply your charges?

Thanks for any feedback all

[tom-knox]

Where i am i charge £20 for the first half hour and £20 an hour there after when i'm onsite at a job. Mine is a flat rate for commercial and residential customers, then i plus parts on the end. I charge no call out free, but for small jobs they're subject to the slightly higher comparative rate for the first half hour.

[Alexishost]

The easiest solution is

first know who is your ideal client,

Spell it clearly What you do that bring value to ideal client.

how you do it.

and charge 2x that you think your worth!
And Don't charge to low! Your ideal client will go away from you.

Especially you are planning to charge per hour basis.!

[Skilgannon]

Thank you for your feedback guys, it is very much appreciated and interresting to see the different approaches

[krshna]

The following is what I did to learn about pricing for my content writing service when I started up. I agree that they may be COMPLETELY different fields but the tactic applies universally and it could work for you too.

1. Contact ALL your competitors in your area- Do prior research about all sorts of questions you need to ask. Fake yourself like a potential client and get their quotes for all possible work you expect yourself to be doing.

2. Next, sit down and value all their services and see what they offer to charge a high rate(if they do) or what they are able to provide for a low price.

3. Now figure out what kind of a service you want to be. Do you want to be one of those high end guys that provide add ons etc to make it look professional? And hence charge higher? Or are you the kind of guy that just does the service and ends it there, hence charging cheaper?

Figure out where you stand amongst all of these guys- and price yourself smart.

This has worked for me- I'm sure you'll be able to pull it off.

Good luck!