Ask HN: What mistakes did you make when starting as a consultant/freelancer?

Re:Ask HN: What mistakes did you make when starting as a con... by onreact on Saturday December 07, 2019 @08:50AM (#21730255)

None of those two. Charge by value you deliver. You can build a 100K car in an hour? Excellent.

Don't punish yourself by charging only $100 for the hour you worked on it.

Know your value - which in capitalism depends on market demand - and charge accordingly.

When you are a distinguished expert you can charge more of course as well.

Make a name for yourself and ensure that everybody knows upfront that you are not a "cheap outsourcing" drone.

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Re:Ask HN: What mistakes did you make when starting as a con... by dominotw on Saturday December 07, 2019 @09:21AM (#21730372)

> You can build a 100K car in an hour? Excellent.

Why wouldn't ur hourly rate be 100k then (vs $100) ?

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Re:Ask HN: What mistakes did you make when starting as a con... by gk1 on Saturday December 07, 2019 @09:49AM (#21730524)

- what if you found an even faster way and did it in 30 minutes, do you charge half that?

- what if it takes you a bit longer, 2 hours, is it fair to charge the client 2x?

The point is, the client wants a car, not an hour of car-making.

Also, the moment you provide an hourly rate you get compared to other hourly workers, whether it’s fair or not. “What?! $100k an hour? Even our lawyers cost less!”

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Re:Ask HN: What mistakes did you make when starting as a con... by dominotw on Saturday December 07, 2019 @10:56AM (#21730887)

> The point is, the client wants a car

Except most clients don't know what they want in such clearcut way before the project begins.

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Re:Ask HN: What mistakes did you make when starting as a con... by onreact on Sunday December 08, 2019 @12:55PM (#21737111)

The client usually wants a solution. What exactly it is you decide as the expert.

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