What's a reasonable hourly rate for a freelance IT guy? Phone systems, networking, basic setups, etc. [more inside]
posted by foxydot on Feb 10, 2008 - 9 answers

What hourly rate should I charge to edit a Powerpoint presentation? [more inside]
posted by The Michael The on Oct 4, 2006 - 9 answers

I am giving serious consideration to setting up as an IT consultant. I'm well proficient in Windows and Mac, Office suites; applications and web technology. In addition, I enjoy talking and fixing computers. I've done some such already, but on a small scale and for people I already knew. My question is: what kind of things should an IT consultant be able to do, what are common requests, what should I charge and how (per job/per hour?). Are there any potential pitfalls? Is it a good idea? Thanks a bunch.
posted by dance on Apr 4, 2006 - 13 answers

I work partly as IT/network support for a company whose focus isn't specifically IT. As such, most of the employees are not very knowledgeable in this area and come to me for help on fixing issues on their home computers. I'm not really into this, but I'm not sure how best to decline to help. I don't mind advising people on things, but when they ask me to go their house to fix their home computers I balk. Today, someone asked how much I charged to "reformat" their hard drive, which I suppose is better than just asking if I can fix something, but what if I don't want to run a half-assed consultancy?

On the flipside -- if I did want to start charging, what do you think would be a normal rate for this kind of stuff? Should I bother setting up a business name? I had thought about such a business before I got this job, but now that I'm a full-timer, I'm not sure I have the interest in doing this as a sidejob.
posted by Big Fat Tycoon on Dec 29, 2004 - 17 answers