thecomputerguy
Well-Known Member
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A few years ago when I first went out on my own I was approached by a client that he and his partner were purchasing a building in town and they wanted to know if I would be interested in renting an office space inside their building.
There was no catch, no free work, no trades, no free rent. Since then it has been a great relationship. They get prompt work from me because I am very local, or in the office at the time they need me, charge them my full rate and I get pretty cheap rent, and I've been there about 4 years now at the same rent rate as when I first moved in.
When it comes to simple stuff like 5m-15m I just do it for them it's usually installing a printer or plugging a cable in or rebooting something, usually very simple that would probably make me look like an A-hole if I charged for it and I don't mind doing that, it's more of like an office courtesy, just like they extend the courtesy of letting me use their printer when I need to print something.
My client, I typically only see once a month. The partner I see a few times a week and I do all of his stuff including new computers HERE. However, he is a very small-time client since his main office is 90 miles away which he commutes to a few times a week. He's only in this satellite office a few times a week because he lives here.
The dilemma:
He asked if I would be willing to drive the 90 miles to his other office to install a computer and transfer data for one of his main employees. He said he could probably find someone local but me being me and his trust in me etc. he'd rather have me do it. The job is literally transferring 5GB - 10GB of data, setting up dual monitors, a couple printers, basically something I could probably knock out in about an hour. He then goes on to mention that he'd pay me the .58c per mile (he's in the service business as well) plus my rate when I get onsite to do the job and that if I was a morning person I'm welcome to leave at 4:00am-5:00am to beat the traffic. Without traffic I'm looking at 1.5hrs of travel both ways but I'd have to leave at 4AM like he does when he commutes. Any other time during the day either there or back runs the risk of the trip being 3hrs.
This is not a job I want. This is a job I'd charge a massive premium for because I'm not a salaried employee whose employer charges the client .58c per mile to cover travel. Honestly it was almost insulting to hear that. Doing this job takes me completely out of my service area and anytime I get pulled out of my service area I charge my full rate in transportation because if I'm so far out of my area I cannot work while driving, or chain jobs together to make a sensible route for the day.
For any other person it would be my full rate in travel and this 1hr-2hr job would end up costing them upwards of $600-$800 for the privilege of having me schedule almost 3/4's of a day to do it. The only other alternative I can think of is him bringing the computer to me to transfer data and setup as much as I can then have him plug it in and remote into it to setup as much as I can remotely. OR I figure out a way to transfer 10GB of data to me and onto a new computer then have him drive it out there and do as much as I can remotely.
Just trying to figure this out without causing tension in our relationship which has always been great, and without causing a massive burden on me or him... and also rambling because I'm a tired idiot with a 1 month old, which brings me to my last point, I DONT GOT TIME TO BE DOIN THIS EITHER.
There was no catch, no free work, no trades, no free rent. Since then it has been a great relationship. They get prompt work from me because I am very local, or in the office at the time they need me, charge them my full rate and I get pretty cheap rent, and I've been there about 4 years now at the same rent rate as when I first moved in.
When it comes to simple stuff like 5m-15m I just do it for them it's usually installing a printer or plugging a cable in or rebooting something, usually very simple that would probably make me look like an A-hole if I charged for it and I don't mind doing that, it's more of like an office courtesy, just like they extend the courtesy of letting me use their printer when I need to print something.
My client, I typically only see once a month. The partner I see a few times a week and I do all of his stuff including new computers HERE. However, he is a very small-time client since his main office is 90 miles away which he commutes to a few times a week. He's only in this satellite office a few times a week because he lives here.
The dilemma:
He asked if I would be willing to drive the 90 miles to his other office to install a computer and transfer data for one of his main employees. He said he could probably find someone local but me being me and his trust in me etc. he'd rather have me do it. The job is literally transferring 5GB - 10GB of data, setting up dual monitors, a couple printers, basically something I could probably knock out in about an hour. He then goes on to mention that he'd pay me the .58c per mile (he's in the service business as well) plus my rate when I get onsite to do the job and that if I was a morning person I'm welcome to leave at 4:00am-5:00am to beat the traffic. Without traffic I'm looking at 1.5hrs of travel both ways but I'd have to leave at 4AM like he does when he commutes. Any other time during the day either there or back runs the risk of the trip being 3hrs.
This is not a job I want. This is a job I'd charge a massive premium for because I'm not a salaried employee whose employer charges the client .58c per mile to cover travel. Honestly it was almost insulting to hear that. Doing this job takes me completely out of my service area and anytime I get pulled out of my service area I charge my full rate in transportation because if I'm so far out of my area I cannot work while driving, or chain jobs together to make a sensible route for the day.
For any other person it would be my full rate in travel and this 1hr-2hr job would end up costing them upwards of $600-$800 for the privilege of having me schedule almost 3/4's of a day to do it. The only other alternative I can think of is him bringing the computer to me to transfer data and setup as much as I can then have him plug it in and remote into it to setup as much as I can remotely. OR I figure out a way to transfer 10GB of data to me and onto a new computer then have him drive it out there and do as much as I can remotely.
Just trying to figure this out without causing tension in our relationship which has always been great, and without causing a massive burden on me or him... and also rambling because I'm a tired idiot with a 1 month old, which brings me to my last point, I DONT GOT TIME TO BE DOIN THIS EITHER.
