Rough cost of setting up a Joomla site
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- Bob Ateah
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Hi ya'll!
I am wondering what folks roughly charge for setting up a Joomla site.
Of course there are a lot of intangibles, but I'm looking for a rough cost estimate.
Need:- Joomla installed and configured
Custom template (modified template is okay)
Teach user to add content
Any thoughts very much appreciated.
Cheers! - Joomla installed and configured
- The member formerly known as Roland Deschain
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- David White
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Thats a hard one...
I actually base my pricing on the client and the size of the company. I tend to undercharge small businesses - But I have spent the last 7 years or so focusing on the monthly hosting fee more so then the initial set up in order to build a passive income.
Work out the average time it takes you to make a standard site and divide it by the amount you want to make per hour and charge that. Lets face it with Joomla and Rockettheme you can build a site in a half a day comfortably.
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- GollumX
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don't forget to factor in the upgrade to Pro membership
- Say no to Internet Explorer 6.
twitter.com/mark_up
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- Dave Goodwin
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- Howdy!!
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Oh, remember the 'asshole tax'!
- "I'm an individual, just like everyone else."
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- Bob Ateah
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Dave G. wrote:
Oh, remember the 'asshole tax'!
I assume that's a tax similar to (often 10%) that the construction industry will apply to quotes when they determine that the client may well be "high maintenance"?
Thanks for the input guys!
Cheers! - The member formerly known as Roland Deschain
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- Dan Marsh
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You may find if you expect something to take 10 hours, it ends up being 20 hours!
Don't forget to factor in any time spent travelling to meet the customer, taking their phone calls, etc. if applicable!
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- David White
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Dave G. wrote:
Oh, remember the 'asshole tax'!
Asshole Tax - I love it!!
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- Matthew
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I have a few rules of thumb for sizing sites:
For any site, if it is going to be sized on an hourly basis, my initial estimate is 150% of the time, so if I think it will take 10 hours, I will say 15. This allows me to respond to problems, or customer concerns without sweating the time too much.
Then, for every major module/component/feature that has to be added, I add the time I think it will take to add that feature, and tack an additional 25% overhead for the whole project. So, if the customer wants a site, plus photo gallery and forum, I would give an estimate that was 200% of the time I think it might actually take to get those items done, because it will always run over.
If a customer is willing to give me total creative control, then I will knock 50% back off the amount of time (this means that they let me choose a look, colors, module layout, etc.).
If a customer is obviously going to be very picky, I will add 100% on top of everything else.
Example A:
A customer is on a tight budget, but they want a professional site with basic information and a photo gallery, and they are willing to let me exercise my best judgment on implementation, I'll quote them a price based on about 125% of the time I think it might take to get it done.
Example B:
A customer has very specific notions about what they want their site to look like and act like. They want a forum, an online shop, a photo gallery and greeting card module, and they are clearly going to be very picky, so I'll quote them a figure based on 350% of the time that I think it might take to actually implement their core requirements.
Of course, clients are free to negotiate to get a better deal, and that is part of why I jack things up so much for "trouble" customers, they are also more likely to try to get their site for a steal, and I like having more room.
Finally, you win some, and you lose some. The really important thing to remember is to not feel guilty when a site takes less time than you estimated - if the client accepted the initial quote, they believe that the quoted total is a fair price, and it is. If it takes more time, on the other hand, well, it happens. The project was probably a learning experience, in how to quote that sort of work if nothing else. - www.gofftech.com Web Design
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- Natalie D.
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One of the things I always find a challenge is sizing up new clients as far as the high maintenance quotient goes. I pretty much only take clients on referral, so that helps some, and if I think someone is going to be a jerk, then I tell them I'm not taking new clients. But you have to get a feel for that pretty quickly in order to respond appropriately to incoming requests.
I do a lot of strategy work with clients, and custom design, so to me it matters what someone is going to be like to work with/collaborate with over time. Will they be responsive? Will they be engaged? Will they pay me? Do they know how to make a decision or are they going to remake every decision 10 times and expect me not to charge? Figuring this out is not always easy, but I do have a few tricks...
First, if the first thing a prospective client asks is how much the project is going to cost -- and if they ask me this before they've given me any sense of the project scope -- then I know they are basically price shopping and that they're going to be high maintenance. They are almost always what I'll call a "do me" client -- one who expects that a site strategy and design and everything related will come together without their having to do very much if anything on their end.
This is a bad situation for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that when they realize that they will in fact have to do an awful lot of work, then they'll probably get pissed and (directly or indirectly) blame you. Either that or there will be a lot of hassle to get the site launched, and you'll get soaked in the process. Guaranteed it will take 2x as long as you initially think. The only time I take clients like this is when I have little or no other work, when I like the person/company I'd be dealing with A LOT, and when the person/company commits to ponying up on costs. I just finished a project like this this week, and even though it went okay all things considered, every time I go through this, I swear I'm not going to do it again! LOL!
Second trick: I always give prospective clients "homework" before I invest any significant time into a response to their inquiry. I'll think up 4-5 questions to ask them in order to better define the project scope -- one or two seemingly softball questions like "what are your goals for the website?" (sounds easy, but actually is not, let's see if they realize this) to more detailed/specific questions like "you mentioned wanting to sell your products online -- does the website need to integrate with an electronic inventory tracking system?" (I don't necessarily expect them to have figured this out, but the real question is how well do they think things through? how serious are they about the project and how much are they willing to invest if not financially then at least in terms of energy? do they realize that their website could change their business? are they prepared to make that level of investment?)
I'd say that four times out of five, I do not get a response to these questions. People just move on, which is fine with me because it tells me a lot about how they'd be to work with. Generally speaking, I have more than enough work. People who are serious about the project will almost always take the time to think about the scope questions and give me more information about what they're looking for. This gives me a good way to gauge their level of engagement and to get a sense of their working style. From there, I'll call or exchange a few more emails and give them a ballpark price.
This is all much less than a perfect science, but it does help me in sussing out potential new clients. These issues may not apply to you in the same way if you're not doing a significant level of design or strategy work with clients -- and/or if you generally don't have to have a high level of client interaction.
Would be interested to hear other people's tricks of the trade...
natalie
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- Bob Ateah
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Thank you everyone for the great responses! There is plenty of sage advice in these posts!
Some background on me:
I am a professional in the construction industry as my main job and I develop and maintain web sites on the side (until I can make this my full time biz). I also do computer repairs (in "shop" or at the clients biz/ home), tutoring and am generally the local computer "guru" of my (small rural) area.
In construction I am well aware of identifying and allowing for the clients that will be a PITA (pain in the arse) and I am learning how to do this in the computer idustry. Your posts help a lot, thank you very much.
Let's keep this thread rolling,if you have some advice or experiences that you can share, please do!
Cheers! - The member formerly known as Roland Deschain
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