Pricing Your Work

Find your minimum rate

Start from what the business must earn:

Target annual income (before tax)            60,000
+ business costs (software, hardware,
  insurance, accountant, hosting)             8,000
= revenue needed                             68,000

Billable hours per year:
  52 weeks − 6 weeks off − 2 weeks sick/admin = 44 weeks
  44 weeks × 25 billable hours                = 1,100 hours

Minimum hourly rate = 68,000 / 1,100 ≈ 62

Not every working hour is billable: sales, admin and learning take a large share. Pricing as if you bill 40 hours a week is the most common freelancer mistake.

Price by value, not just hours

A booking system that saves a clinic 10 hours of phone calls a week and prevents no-shows is worth far more than the hours it took you. Ask in discovery: what does this problem cost them now? What is it worth to solve it? Price somewhere in that value, not merely at your hourly rate.

Quoting projects

1. Paid discovery for anything non-trivial: a short, fixed-price phase to define scope.
2. Break the work into features and estimate each; add a contingency buffer for unknowns.
3. Offer a fixed price for a fixed scope, with changes handled through change requests.
4. Offer options (good/better/best): clients often pick the middle.

Payment terms

• A deposit before starting (commonly a significant portion of the project), milestones during, and the balance before launch or handover.
• Clear due dates (for example 14 days) and late-fee terms in the contract.
• Monthly plans billed in advance by card or direct debit through Stripe.

Raising prices

Raise rates for new clients first, then existing ones with notice. If nobody ever says your price is too high, it is probably too low.

Exercise

Calculate your minimum hourly rate with realistic billable hours, then price a sample project (a booking app for a salon) three ways: hourly estimate, value-based price and a good/better/best package set.

Check yourself

• Why is "40 billable hours a week" unrealistic?
• What questions reveal the value of a project?
• Why ask for a deposit?