Subj : Re: How much should I charge for fixed-price software contract? To : comp.programming,comp.lang.java.programmer,comp.lang.lisp From : Tim X Date : Tue Jul 12 2005 07:42 pm Pascal Bourguignon writes: > "jonathon" writes: > > > Pascal Bourguignon wrote: > >> For example, if their business practice on investing is to expect a > >> TTROI of 0.25 year, and your software will allow them to earn 1 more > >> dollar/year/customer and they have 100,000 customers, that is, your > >> software will earn them 100,000 more dollar/year, then you can quote > >> it for P = 0.25*100,000 = $25,000. > > > > So what would be the rationale for charging double for the same product > > simply because they are willing to wait six months rather than three > > for ROI? > > Who told anything about reason? It's psychology. You approach the > "decider" with this argument: "Hey, with my product, in six months > you'll be earning twice the dollars you earn now.". While you don't > have a competitor bidding a TTROI of three months, you don't need to > bid less. If you good at it (you approach the decider in the right > context with the right adornments), you can even bid a TTROI of one > year. > A lot of people overlook the psychology aspect when first starting out. I lost a few initial contracts because I was too cheap and prospective clients thought I was either an amateur or didn't do a good job. When I increased by rate, I began to get more jobs. At the time, I felt uncomfortable asking for what seemed to be far in excess to what the work was worth - then I realised if the market would handle it, why not get what I could - especially if doing so gave me more choice. Tim -- Tim Cross The e-mail address on this message is FALSE (obviously!). My real e-mail is to a company in Australia called rapttech and my login is tcross - if you really need to send mail, you should be able to work it out! .