I spent about 10 hours setting up an office network (a really awesome office network, I might add), for a friend's small business. When she asked me how much I was going to charge her, I said don't worry about it.
I actually had fun doing it, since I've never setup a network that was so darn cool (I'm serious, it's awesome)).
So I'm just wondering if you guys charge your friends for computer-y labor. Do you always charge, or sometimes? Do you do personal stuff for free, and charge when your doing it for a business?
livechatpal posted this at 02:20 — 1st August 2008.
They have: 4 posts
Joined: Aug 2008
Hi,
I did the same too. It just seem weird to charge friends. I never really know the amount to charge too. If we charge little, it really defeats the purpose and might just backfired. If we charge too much, it will kind of affect the relationship too. I think steering clear of money is the best way to go. Besides, they will normally return the favor in some other way too. So its a win-win situation.
Christine
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kazimmerman posted this at 02:57 — 1st August 2008.
He has: 579 posts
Joined: Jul 2005
You know, I don't provide services to anyone in this field, but my family does own a restaurant where friends and family frequent often, and they pay every time. I think you have to uphold your business or how long will it take before your being asked to help out a friend of a friend for free as a favor to your actual friend?
I think it boils down to a business-by-business basis. To your true friends, you can offer advice and maybe some quick troubleshooting and/or maintenance help every now and then for free, but working for them for free in general is a bad idea in my opinion.
It all depends on the circumstance though.
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pr0gr4mm3r posted this at 03:05 — 1st August 2008.
He has: 823 posts
Joined: Sep 2006
It depends on the circumstance. If it for business, then yes. I am helping them earn a profit, and I would think I deserve a piece of that. If it's for personal use, like setting up a home DSL connection or upgrading their RAM, then I may not depending on how long I've known them. Most of them pay me anyways even if I offer services for free.
ms2134 posted this at 07:18 — 1st August 2008.
He has: 321 posts
Joined: May 2008
I agree with pr0gr4mm3r. If it was maybe going to earn something back then sure, i would charge but if it was non-profit then i would do it for free. Unless it took more than X amount of hours.
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decibel.places posted this at 14:06 — 1st August 2008.
They have: 668 posts
Joined: Jun 2008
I think barter is a good option.
My mom has a nice looking but very 1.0 website for her artwork. She has asked for help, and I suggested in lieu of payment that she give me a painting.
A designer with whom I am working on a project asked for some help with a DHTML image scroller on a different project. Took a couple of hours. She already contributed an awesome logo for a nonprofit project I personally volunteered to create (and the nonprofit is so happy they have insisted on paying me something) - and I asked her to make a favicon in exchange for the scroller (those little icons are not easy)
I became PM on a project to rebuild an artist's flash site when the fla was lost. There really wasn't any $$ in the budget but I put in considerable time making sure the new site was exactly like the old site (in appearance, we added some better functions) so I requested a painting from the artist, approx $1000 value.
Megan posted this at 14:08 — 7th August 2008.
She has: 10,288 posts
Joined: Jun 1999
My mom has a nice looking but very 1.0 website for her artwork. She has asked for help, and I suggested in lieu of payment that she give me a painting.
My mom is an artist too! She just sold her first painting a few weeks ago. I imgaine at some point she'll be asking me for a website. Being able to exchange services would be ideal when working with friends & family if that works out (i.e. they have something you want!).
Otherwise for me it really depends on the amount of work required and how difficult I think this person is going to be. For example, my sister recently asked us to host 2 new sites for her (we gave her her first stie as a birthday present last year). The sites are small so there's little impact on our VPS, and it only takes a few minutes for Liam to set the site up and for me to install Wordpress on them. So we were happy to do that for free.
However, she might want me to help with the design and in that case I might have to charge just because it takes time that I could be using for other projects. Or maybe I could get her to write some articles for us...
I definitely don't want people to think that my time is cheap and plentiful! In my day job I've learned to avoid saying "no problem" when people ask me to do stuff, especially things that are not in my job description. Having that kind of attitude could lead people to take advantage of you and pile on more work than you can handle. Especially when you have other priorities. Now I say "you're welcome" instead.
Megan
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sirtokealot posted this at 21:18 — 30th October 2008.
They have: 23 posts
Joined: Sep 2007
they always offe rbut i cant accept it, i would rather them owe me a favour
demonhale posted this at 05:02 — 2nd August 2008.
He has: 3,301 posts
Joined: May 2005
All pretty descent suggestions. In My Part, if it does consume too much of my time, I recommend to my friends other people instead of doing it myself to steer away from asking for a fee or them paying me. At least, it's like helping them and them paying someone else, unless my friends intention is to to save some $$$ by asking me, then a barter would be good for a moderate use of your time, but sometimes you can do it for free if you feel like it.
But as one friend said to me, business is business, if the errand is related to my work, then they have to pay me, but they have a discount of course...
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Greensphere posted this at 14:52 — 2nd August 2008.
They have: 74 posts
Joined: Jun 2008
I think it depends how much work is involved although a friendly discount will no doubt be appreciated and ensure that your time and hard work gets some reward.
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greg posted this at 12:33 — 3rd August 2008.
He has: 606 posts
Joined: Nov 2005
Depends on the friend. how good a friend are they etc, or are they someone who knows me through a friend of a friend. Also depends on the work involved.
If it's some advice or an hour or two help with say a PHP file I would likely do it for free, if they wanted a site build that might take me 15-20 hours work then I might charge. unless it's a close friend or family, then I would just be happy to have the knowledge to help them.
Then again, my friends and family all help each other with lots of things anyway, so with close friends and family I'm just adding to the large 'circle of help' in my case.
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ellen20 posted this at 04:08 — 6th August 2008.
They have: 28 posts
Joined: Jul 2008
It depends on the situation.. Because that he/she is only your friend you're not going to charge him/her..
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EmilyJames posted this at 18:33 — 24th August 2008.
They have: 15 posts
Joined: Aug 2008
I have never charged a friend although sometimes it becomes a big headache and I wish I did!
fantastvik posted this at 14:36 — 8th September 2008.
They have: 19 posts
Joined: Sep 2008
i used to do everything for free for friends. but now i have totally stopped doing it. they genrally start taking you for granted. they want everything at best quality and they even give you deadlines...
so its better dont work for friends
sirtokealot posted this at 21:27 — 30th October 2008.
They have: 23 posts
Joined: Sep 2007
they always offer, but i cant take the money. its better for them to owe you a favour