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[#]: subject: (Pricing Yourself as a Contractor 101)
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[#]: via: (https://theartofmachinery.com/2021/07/04/pricing_as_contractor_101.html)
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[#]: author: (Simon Arneaud https://theartofmachinery.com)
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[#]: collector: (lujun9972)
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[#]: translator: (CN-QUAN)
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[#]: reviewer: ( )
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[#]: publisher: ( )
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[#]: url: ( )
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Pricing Yourself as a Contractor 101
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======
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I’ve been self-employed for most of my career. Sometimes I talk to other people who are interested in leaving a full-time job to do some kind of contracting or service business. By far, the most common newbie mistake that we all seem to make is in pricing ourselves.
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Take [this useful blog post that breaks down employee income vs freelancer income in the US][1]. It estimates that you need $140k revenue as a freelancer in the US to have the equivalent of $100k employee compensation. I remember finding calculations like that really useful when I first started a business. However, some people will look at the result and think, “Gee, I have to make 1.4x as much if I’m self employed. Can I really do that?”
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No, no, no. That thinking is backwards.
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### How to price yourself
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Let’s make up an example. Suppose you’re a full-time-employed software engineer grossing that $100k p.a., and you’re thinking of switching to contracting.
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When you’re self-employed, you have to think like a business because that’s literally how you’re making your living. So you have to add up all your costs and figure out how you’re going to recover them. Spreadsheets get a bad rap (for some good reasons), but they’re actually really useful for this stuff (and a lot of other calculations you’ll do as a business owner).
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The first cost to add to the tally is that $100k. If that sounds weird, it’s what’s called “opportunity cost”. You could have made $100k by staying employed; not making that is effectively a cost you have to justify when planning your business. Mark that cost down, along with any other employment benefits you actually use. If your employer offers on-site lunches, add what it costs you to get lunch each workday of the year. If your employer offers employee discounts on its fitness software, but you don’t use that software anyway, don’t add that benefit as an opportunity cost.
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Other costs depend on what you’re doing and where you live. Employee-provided health insurance isn’t as big a thing in Australia as in the US. On the other hand, compulsory superannuation payments (similar to the US 401(k)) are a big deal. I have my own company, and my major non-salary costs are insurance, accounting/filing, legal (for contract reviews, etc.), debt collection and various online service costs. If you’re counting something durable (like a desk) divide the cost by the estimated number of years you expect to use the thing.
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Anyway, so far this is basically what was in Caleb’s blog post, so to keep things simple, I’ll assume the same $100k nominal salary and $140k equivalent business cost. (Scale everything to match your own circumstances, of course.) Now you need to figure out how to recover that cost. There are about 255 Australian working days in a year, so if you could contract them all out, you’d charge $550 a day (plus sales tax). In reality, you won’t be able to bill the entire year. I’ve taken a higher-risk approach and averaged about 60-70% in the past 6 years of my current stint of self employment. [Accenture’s annual financial reports][2] say they get about 90% “utilization” from their contractors, which I assume means they bill 90% of the total workdays. Let’s assume you’re moderate and bill 75% of work days. That means you recover $140k of costs in 75% of 255 days (or 191 days) by billing about $730 a day (plus sales tax).
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### The mistake
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People new to contracting often react to numbers like that and think, “WTF?! That’s huge!” That’s just one example calculation, but it’s normal for service prices to be around double or more what you might naïvely guess from equivalent full-time employee rates. However, that day rate came from a simple calculation of how much you need to charge to get the equivalent of a $100k salary. It’s the same thing. Thinking otherwise is the critical mistake.
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New contractors are often still unsure. Won’t they sound _greedy_ asking for that much? If your clients have any clue, they’re doing pretty much the same calculation. “I could pay Gentle Blog Reader $730 a day for just as long as I want, or I could pay ~$140k for a full-timer who I won’t even really need every day.” A $100k salary isn’t actually $100k from the employer’s point of view, either. Basing prices on nominal base salaries just doesn’t make sense. Even if you’re selling B2C, your cluey competitors won’t be charging less, at least not sustainably.
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### Why it matters
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That specific example was for contracting, but it’s a basic rule of business economics: unless you’re trying some super-risky growth hacking (and we know how [Pets.com][3] turned out), you need to figure out your costs and set your price high enough to cover them.
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Some people still feel uncomfortable with the price they need to set, and they rationalise dropping the price. Perhaps they think something like, “I’m a really nice person, and if I charge only $400 a day my clients will be even happier.” The problem is that you won’t get the same clients. Cluey clients who would pay $100k a year base salary for an employee won’t pay $400 a day for a contractor to do the same job. Instead, in practice, you might get a few good clients who just didn’t have the budget for $730 a day, but you _will_ get a whole bunch of really bad clients. Think about it. If a stranger offered you a fancy-looking diamond ring for $50, would you pay? Or would you rather buy another ring for a normal price?
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Let me stress that I’m just taking the numbers from Caleb’s post and that everything is relative. Use your own numbers instead. In most parts of the world, $400 a day might be a fantastic rate. However, if you’re a senior fintech developer in Silicon Valley, charging $400 a day will just make you a magnet for terrible clients. Most of the good ones will know something isn’t adding up, and they’ll be scared away.
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What do I mean by bad clients? Browse through [the Clients from Hell blog][4] for a bit. It ranges from a lot of basic annoyance like clients who are never satisfied, or who make unreasonable demands, or who waste your time, all the way to clients who are outright abusive, or who get you to do work to spec before arguing they shouldn’t have to pay because “I don’t want it”. Some clients simply don’t pay at all.
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If _you_ don’t value your own product enough, don’t be shocked if you have customers who don’t value it enough, either.
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It gets worse, though. Good clients tend to work with other good clients. If you’re always available when you say you will be, would you work with people who waste your time? If you treat others with respect, would you work with people who are unreasonable and abusive? On average, your good clients will tend to refer you to other good clients. The reverse is true of bad clients, if they’re even grateful enough to refer you to anyone at all. Therefore, if you charge a good price, your business will tend to grow as you build a reputation. If you undercharge, you’ll find yourself in a downward spiral where you’re not only losing money, but finding it harder and harder to get proper pay at all.
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All of this is just a matter of averages, and if you’re lucky you’ll still get good clients even if you undercharge, and if you’re unlucky you’ll still get bad clients even if you charge the right price. However, if your revenue is already weak, each bad client will really hurt. Hoping to beat the averages isn’t a good plan.
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### “But no one pays that much!”
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Suppose you’re an experienced full-time engineer and you decide to try going independent. You’ll probably find that your calculated rate seems high compared to what you see on a freelancing website. That’s because it’s hard to build up a reputation on freelancing websites. Freelancing websites are most useful for casual buyers who primarily want a low price.
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I think a lot of smart engineers assume career networking is hard and requires super high levels of extroversion, so they have to rely on freelancing websites for work. The bad news is that you need to build up a good reputation to get good pay. The good news is that most people can do it as long as they have skills that are in demand. Networking isn’t about going to so-called “networking events” (they’re actually mostly terrible for networking). Networking tips would make a whole new blog post, but the key is to find good clients in their natural habitats, and to do the things that make them keep coming back and maybe even refer you to other good clients.
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In any case, don’t let freelancing websites or anything else set your price below the equivalent of what you could get from a full-time salary. In fact, [you might even get better than your current salary][5], which is why this is “Pricing 101”. Undercharging, however, will kill your self-employment career.
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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via: https://theartofmachinery.com/2021/07/04/pricing_as_contractor_101.html
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作者：[Simon Arneaud][a]
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选题：[lujun9972][b]
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译者：[译者ID](https://github.com/译者ID)
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校对：[校对者ID](https://github.com/校对者ID)
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本文由 [LCTT](https://github.com/LCTT/TranslateProject) 原创编译，[Linux中国](https://linux.cn/) 荣誉推出
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[a]: https://theartofmachinery.com
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[b]: https://github.com/lujun9972
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[1]: https://calebporzio.com/making-100k-as-an-employee-versus-being-self-employed
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[2]: https://www.accenture.com/au-en/about/company/annual-report
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[3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pets.com
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[4]: https://clientsfromhell.net/
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[5]: https://theartofmachinery.com/2018/10/07/payrise_by_switching_jobs.html
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@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
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[#]: via: (https://theartofmachinery.com/2021/07/04/pricing_as_contractor_101.html)
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[#]: author: (Simon Arneaud https://theartofmachinery.com)
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[#]: collector: (lujun9972)
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[#]: translator: (CN-QUAN)
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[#]: reviewer: ( )
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[#]: publisher: ( )
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[#]: url: ( )
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作为承包商为自己以101的方式标价
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======
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我职业生涯的大部分时间都是自由职业者。有时候，我也会和一些想要辞掉全职工作去做一些承包或服务业务的人聊天。到目前为止，我们新手最常犯的错误就是自我定价。
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以[这篇有用的博客文章为例，它分析了美国员工收入与自由职业者收入的对比][1]。据估计，在美国，作为一名自由职业者，你需要获得14万美元的收入，才能获得相当于10万美元的员工薪酬。我记得当我第一次创业时，我发现这样的计算非常有用。而，有些人看到结果会想:“哎呀，如果我是自由职业者，我得赚1.4倍的钱。我真的能做到吗?”
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不，不，不，这种想法是落后的。
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### 如何给自己定价
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让我们举个例子。假设你是一名全职软件工程师，年收入10万美元，你正考虑转用合同制。
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当你是自由职业者时候，你必须像做生意一样思考，因为这就是你的谋生方式。所以，你必须把所有的成本加起来，并计算出如何收回这些成本。电子表格的口碑很差(出于一些好的原因)，但它们实际上对这些东西非常有用(以及作为企业主将进行的许多其他计算)。
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第一个要增加的成本是10万美元。如果这听起来很奇怪，那就是所谓的“机会成本”。如果你继续工作，你本可以赚到10万美元；在规划业务时，不这样做实际上是一种成本。把这笔费用和其他你实际使用的就业福利一起标记下来。如果你的雇主提供工作日午餐，那就加上一年中每个工作日午餐的费用。如果你的雇主为员工提供健身软件的折扣，但你却没有使用该软件，那么不要将该福利作为机会成本。
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其他成本取决于你在做什么和你住在哪里。员工医疗保险在澳大利亚不像在美国那么重要。另一方面，强制性养老金支付（类似于美国的401K计划））是一件大事。我有自己的公司，我的主要非工资成本是保险、会计/备案、法律（合同审查等）、债务催收和各种在线服务成本。如果你在计算一些耐用的东西（比如一张桌子），把成本除以你预计使用该东西的年数。
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总之，到目前为止，这基本上就是Caleb的博客文章中的内容，所以为了简单起见，我将假设10万美元的名义工资和14万美元的等效业务成本不变。(当然，一切都要根据自己的情况进行调整。)现在你需要想办法收回这笔成本。澳大利亚一年大约有255个工作日，所以如果你能把它们全部外包出去，你每天要收取550美元(外加销售税)。在现实中，你将无法支付一整年的账单。我采取了一种风险更高的方法，在我目前从事自营职业的过去6年里，我的平均回报率约为60%-70%。[埃森哲的年度财务报告][2]说他们从承包商那里得到了大约90%的“利用率”，我想这意味着他们收取了总工作日的90%的费用。让我们假设你是一个中等收入者并且在75%的工作日里都要付账。这意味着你可以在255天（或191天）的75%内通过每天730美元的账单（加上销售税）收回14万美元的成本。
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### 误区
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刚接触合同的人通常会对这样的数字做出反应，并会想，“见鬼？！这可是件大事！“。这只是一个计算示例，但服务价格通常是相当于全职员工工资的两倍或两倍以上。然而，这一天的工资是通过一个简单的计算得出的，那就是你需要收取多少钱才能获得相当于10万美元的工资。这是一回事。不这样想才是关键的错误。
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新承包商往往还不确定。他们要求那么多，听起来是不是很贪婪?如果你的客户有任何线索，他们也在做大致相同的计算。“我可以付给Gentle Blog Reader每天730美元，只要我愿意，我也可以花14万美元买一个我甚至不是每天都真正需要的全职雇员。”从雇主的角度来看，10万美元的薪水实际上也不是10万美元。把价格建立在名义基本工资的基础上是没有意义的。即使你是在销售B2C产品，你的潜在竞争对手也不会降价，至少不会持续降价。
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### 为什么这很重要
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这个具体的例子是为了承包，但这是商业经济学的一条基本规则：除非你正在尝试一些风险极高的高收入行为(我们知道[Pets.com][3]的结果)，否则你需要计算出你的成本，并设定足够高的价格来弥补这些成本。
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一些人仍然对他们需要设定的价格感到不安，他们认为降低价格是合理的。也许他们会这样想:“我是个很好的人，如果我每天只收400美元，我的客户会更高兴。”问题是你得不到同样的客户。聪明的客户愿意为员工支付10万美元的基本工资，他们不会为承包商每天支付400美元来做同样的工作。相反，在实践中，你可能会得到一些好客户，他们只是没有每天730美元的预算，但同时你也会得到一大堆非常糟糕的客户。想想看。如果一个陌生人以50美元的价格卖给你一枚看起来很花哨的钻戒，你会付钱吗？还是愿意以正常价格再买一枚戒指？
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我要强调的是，我只是从凯莱布的帖子中获取数据，而且一切都是相对的。用你自己的数字代替。在世界上大多数地区，每天400美元可能是一个令人难以置信的价格。然而，如果你是硅谷的一名高级金融科技开发人员，每天收费400美元只会让你成为吸引糟糕客户的磁铁。大多数优秀的人都会知道有些事情不对劲，他们会被吓跑。
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我说的坏客户是什么意思？浏览一下[来自地狱的客户博客][4]。它包括很多基本的烦恼，比如客户永远不会得到满足，或者提出无理要求，或者浪费你的时间，一直到彻头彻尾的辱骂，或者让你按规格工作，然后辩称自己不应该付钱，因为“我不想要”。有些客户根本就不付钱。
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如果你不够重视你自己的产品，也不要因为你的客户不够重视你的产品而感到震惊。
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不过，情况变得更糟了。好客户倾向于与其他好客户合作。如果你说你会随时待命，你会和那些浪费你时间的人一起工作吗？如果你尊重他人，你会和那些不讲道理、辱骂他人的人一起工作吗？一般来说，你的好客户会把你介绍给其他好客户。糟糕的客户则恰恰相反，如果他们甚至感激地把你推荐给任何人的话。因此，如果你的价格合适，你的生意会随着你的声誉而增长。如果你收费过低，你会发现自己陷入了一个恶性循环，你不仅会赔钱，而且会发现越来越难获得适当的报酬。
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这些都只是平均水平，如果你幸运的话，低收费也能吸引到好客户，如果你不幸的话，价格合理也仍然会得到坏客户。然而，如果你的收入已经很低了，那么每一个坏客户都会对你造成伤害。希望超越平均水平不是一个好计划。
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### “但没人付那么多钱！”
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假设你是一名经验丰富的全职工程师，你决定尝试独立工作。你可能会发现，你的计算比率似乎比你在自由职业网站上看到的要高。这是因为在自由职业网站上建立声誉很难。自由职业者网站对于那些主要想要低价的临时买家来说是最有用的。
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我想，很多聪明的工程师都认为，职业社交是很难的，而且需要非常外向的性格，所以他们不得不依靠自由职业网站来工作。坏消息是，你需要建立良好的声誉才能拿到高薪。好消息是，只要他们拥有所需的技能，大多数人都可以做到。社交并不是去参加所谓的“社交活动”(实际上，这些活动对社交来说都很糟糕)。社交技巧会让你写一篇全新的博客文章，但关键是在他们的日常生活中找到好客户，并做一些让他们不断回头的事情，甚至可能让你找到其他好客户。
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在任何情况下，不要让自由职业网站或其他任何东西把你的价格定在你可以从全职工资中拿到的等价物以下。事实上，[你甚至可能比你现在的工资还高][5]，这就是为什么这是“定价101”。然而，收费过低会扼杀你的自主创业生涯。
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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via: https://theartofmachinery.com/2021/07/04/pricing_as_contractor_101.html
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作者：[Simon Arneaud][a]
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选题：[lujun9972][b]
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译者：[CN-QUAN](https://github.com/CN-QUAN)
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校对：[校对者ID](https://github.com/校对者ID)
|
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|
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本文由 [LCTT](https://github.com/LCTT/TranslateProject) 原创编译，[Linux中国](https://linux.cn/) 荣誉推出
|
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|
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[a]: https://theartofmachinery.com
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[b]: https://github.com/lujun9972
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[1]: https://calebporzio.com/making-100k-as-an-employee-versus-being-self-employed
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[2]: https://www.accenture.com/au-en/about/company/annual-report
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[3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pets.com
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[4]: https://clientsfromhell.net/
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[5]: https://theartofmachinery.com/2018/10/07/payrise_by_switching_jobs.html
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