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What Means Work?

By Bud Kraus
bud@joyofcode.com
Joy Of Code
Creator And Instructor

v3 i5
Originally Published: March 8, 2007

A couple of weeks ago, I got into an email volley with a former Joy Of Coder, an excellent student who wants to build her career as a web site designer. She got her first gig and started wondering about what she should charge for her service. She was determined to work at an hourly rate. I remarked, "Before you figure out your rate - and all the factors that should go into that calculation - why don't you think about what an hour of your work time really is?" What is a billable hour, or more to the point - "What Means Work?"

Let's listen to my conversation between Former Student (FS) and me (BK).

FS: Hey. I got a new web design gig. It's for a home based solar energy company.

I had a contract figured out from a book I read (How to Start Your Own Home-Based Web Design Business), but I finally decided I'd rather do it at an hourly rate instead (less commitment required on their end that way). They agreed to five hours of work at $40 an hour.

I did the first hour, designing graphics in Publisher and Photoshop and emailed it to them for approval. Next hour I will be doing the CSS and the Home Page and Site Map, I think. I made a little timesheet for myself to keep track of how much time I'm spending on each step, and what order and everything. This way, if I get more work and decide I want to make a living out of it, I'll know the whole process and what each step is, and how long each step will probably take. As my first "client," they're probably getting a heck of a deal, because I'm not charging them for my futzing around - trying to remember how to do - or learning new things.

BK: This sounds great. It's an incubator project for you. The only way to learn how to create a web design business is to do it. Experience is the best teacher.

You're right. You will get a little gypped in the money thing, but you are getting paid, and while you are getting paid, you are learning. Not a bad way to go considering the alternative - learning without pay.

When you charge by the hour, you will find it difficult to decide what is work, and what time should be paid for. By that I mean, if you are taking a shower and thinking of your client's work, is that billable time? You are taking your free time out of your life to do work -- thinking of the client's needs. Is work only when you are sitting by a computer, only when you are touching a keyboard? These are issues freelancers in this field have been struggling with and you will soon become aware of them. Shouldn't pure brain time be compensated? I spend more time thinking of what I am going to do than actually doing it sometimes.

Just what is work, or just what is compensated work? That's what you must settle up with the client BEFORE you get started. I have worked on projects sans contract, but ONLY when I was comfortable knowing that the client understood exactly what the deliverables were. Even absent a real contract, I ALWAYS spell out when I'm doing a Code Aid project - for the client and myself - at a minimum: ONE - This is the scope of the project, and TWO - When I'm done, this is what you'll get.

FS: Next interesting issue is going to be that they gave me text for the other pages in PDF. I'm including retyping it as part of my hourly time.

BK: You have to. Too bad they didn't have the original document, like a text file, that you could have used instead of the PDF.

FS: Got it.

If I forget how to do something and have to take a half hour (exaggerating) to look up an HTML code or CSS code (which is easier from my computer at my day job), then I'm marking that down as work done, but not billing them for it. I'm not charging them for the time I'm taking trying to remember how to do something or fixing an error, but that's a question for next time. I'm writing everything down, what I did and how long it took, so that next time I try to do this for a company, I'll know what the steps were and how long everything took.

BK: See, there's a lot that goes into the issue of what is work, or more specifically billable work. How about talking on the phone or meetings? What about commutation? That is your time. Time you are surrendering to another. Do they get that at no cost?

But you are doing all the right things. You are learning how long it takes you to do various tasks. I once did some work for a division of Doubleday. When the Project Manager asked "How long?" you knew he was asking "How much?"

FS: Well, the first meeting was kind of a sales pitch meeting, so I didn't bill them for that. Any other meetings, I think I'd bill them for.

BK: Again that all goes to what is work, or better, what is it that you do that you must be compensated for. The answer reflects the strength or weakness you have in the deal. If you are a rare talent, everything can be compensated. The other end of the spectrum is where you're at. Newbies have little leverage, but little is not none.

The nice thing about knowing how long tasks take is that, once you know exactly what the scope of the project is, you can charge a flat fee. This will work better in smaller projects and give the client a feeling that the meter won't run on and on. But you can only do this IF you know what you are going to do and how long it will take to do it. Even so, make sure there are parameters in a flat fee deal. Have it settled as to what happens if the client changes the nature of the work to be done before it is delivered.

Speaking of work - I better get back to some.