Hourly Rate

[LeCutus]

Good afternoon

please forgive me raising a difficult subject as my first post. I have just started a small IT support company and surprisingly been approached to provide support to a local company. Not trying to run before I can walk, just want to handle this new business professionally.

I have seen the interesting posts on whether or not to orivide discounted pricing for certain customers. This appears to be a bit of a minefield and one to stay clear of if at all possible.

My question is relatively simple, talking in ballpark figures only, how much should I charge for additional hours outside a standard SLA? ie if I am contracted to provide say 4 hours a week support and this goes above the limit, what do people normally charge?

Not sure if there is a country wide figure that people use or if this is considered as totally confidential. I am based in the North of England, in the land of flat caps and good beer, so please advise.

Many thanks

[cforger]

That's a very complex question - I've been struggling with it as well. I know that lawyers on retainer will often give a 10-15% discount for being paid in advance, which would also result in a 0% - 15% penalty for hours over this retainer.. all depends on how you like to do i.

I'd love to hear what others are doing - It would be great if the IT business had some standard rates between providers, so we can all make good money (price fixing anyone? :-) )

[natrat]

Here are some prices for my area of Australia - Sunshine Coast Queensland.

Shop based (have a retail shop, multiple staff, also do onsite)
Hourly rate (onsite) - $130-$160/hour (1-60 mins charged full hourly rate, after first hour pro-rata'd)

Home based / onsite only - $80 - $160 /hour

I charge $110/hour for onsite work, with a minimum fee of $50.

Many of the onsite only people are running franchises such as Jims Computing. I've met a few of these people and I certainly wouldnt be confident in them the second they walked through the door. Nose and eyebrow peircings, generally unkempt - not a judgement, just first impressions count in business! I've also seen some of their work and hmm. I'd be upset if I paid $130 for it. Not everyone is like that of course.