contracting/Freelancing

[chrisvenus]

What sort of rates do you charge as a freelancer or a contractor? Or more precisely I want to know what sort of rates *I* should be charging. There is the possibility that the Beeb will want to pay me to do more techie work and if so it probably won't be through another company (so they won't be taking a cut) but this may mean me needing to negotiate my own price. I know what the beeb are paying for me at the moment and it quite scares me so I'm not sure I would feel comfortable asking for that much. On the other hand I know it is a fraction of what Domino charged for a day of my labour. That of course did have other overheads and in this case the Beeb give my computer, desk, etc...

So, anybody who has knowledge or experience able to fill me in with a few figures of what is reasonable? Much appreciated. :)

Comments

Well...

[lathany.livejournal.com]

I've never done it, but I know a few people who have so :

- Your charge per day will be more than you would expect to be paid for a full-time job. Why ? 'Cos you won't get paid for holidays and you will expect to have periods of time when there is no work coming in. Additionally, you are responsible for keeping your own records (and writing that bl**dy tax form for the Inland Revenue) so you need to be paid enough to cover the time when you fill these things in.

- Overall what I'm getting at is that you should be asking for higher than you would expect for a full-time wage.

Hope that's helpful.

Dawn.

[jiggery-pokery.livejournal.com]

Try reading

http://infotrope.net/writing/content/webhire/webhire.html

which is a bit out of date and is from the opposite perspective but the principles still apply.

There was something about this on Slashdot recently (well, the related topic of "how much to charge when bidding for a contract"). There was a reasonable consensus of opinion that charging too little is positively bad for your chances of getting the contract. If the Beeb are happy to pay you a certain amount for the work you're doing, then that's probably about the right level and there needs to be a definite reason for you to drop your demands. (Alternatively, you could let them haggle you down, but apparently this doesn't happen much in practice.)

You've got mail (at chrisvenus @ livejournal . com) about figures I received - I decided I wasn't happy with posting them to your journal for all to see. Sorry :-)

One thing I would make very sure, from painful experience, that you get a contract every time. Now you might feel "Oh, I'm happy to do whatever work I can get and don't want to damage my chances of getting the work" or "It's only a couple of days' work, can it really be worth it?" - I'm guessing that because I certainly felt that from time to time. Safety dictates that you shouldn't do anything without a contract, even if it's for a big fat corp which won't go bust like the Beeb. (Of course, let me know the first time your demands for a contract do cause you problems and I may change my mind...)

Good luck, mate. Been there, done that. Would probably ring you for a chat if I knew your phone number.

I'm confused

[bateleur.livejournal.com]

Why do you want to know what's reasonable ?

I've never in my life met a contractor who charged a reasonable rate for his or her services. The whole point of being a contractor is to rake in wads of money and then boast to your conventionally salaried friends that you earn more in a week than they do in a month.

Re: I'm confused

[chrisvenus]

Reasonable was meant in the sense of "what can I reasonably get away with". I don't want to ask for 10 pounds a day if I can get away with 800 pounds a day. Similarly I don't want to ask for 800 when they are unlikely to pay more than 300. I'm already getting nearly twice as much gross daily as I did at domino which I think is quite scary and there have been implications that I could get more and I want to know how much more. :)

Don't worry, I'm being a good little capitalist and trying to get all the cash I can. :) ALl the better to buy nice shiny new toys with... :)

[borange.livejournal.com]

well I get charged out at £1,500 for an 8 hour shift

and my company is way cheapo

[narenek.livejournal.com]

How does 20-30 quid an hour sound?

possibly more cos you're in London.

Coupla points

[frax.livejournal.com]

1. It might be worth looking into turning yourself into a limited company in the eyes of the law and then paying yourself as an employee. I know a couple of people who have done this as contractors (if you are going into it regularly) and there are a lots of tax breaks and other things you can get.

2. BBC contracts are notoriously long, difficult, superfluous and tightly sewn up. I have read a few. Enjoy.

Frax.

Re: Coupla points

[(Anonymous)]

Doesnt section 34 (of the Contracting Out (Income Ralated Benifits) Order) remove a lot of the advantages of being a limited company if you are the sole employee, and you have a small number of customers? e.g. you don't get the NIC advantages and some of the other items. If you end up doing something like this, you really would want hte services of an accountant I think. The bloody tax system in this country is too full of exceptions, excepting precisely what you want to do with it.

Re: Coupla points

[(Anonymous)]

Actually, I meant the Social Security Act 1998, oops