Thinking about setting up a small company

Hi there.

I am thinking about setting up a small online web design company. I deal in PHP,HTML,CSS and come JavaScript. As it is just me, I can't offer huge scale projects to customers, just small managebale sites. I was wondering approximately how much I should charge customers, 'cause I don't have a clue tbh. Also, I guess it would be up to me to get their site online, so I would need to get their details and pay who ever ends up hosting their site.

Anyway, if you have any comments/advice for me, I should most appreciate it.

Cheers,

hey,
for getting hosting figured out, maybe try going into local places to see if you can work out special pricing for using their service exclusively with your clients.
as for your own pricing, i'd recommend shopping around online. there are lots of sites with their pricing on the site to give you an idea. it's ultimately up to you of course.
one thing i will advise...do not lowball yourself. cheapest is not always best.

good luck!

This isn't really a web design problem, so I've moved the thread to Business Help.

Hello,

To figure out how much you should charge, If you are just starting it is best to start with the minimum you can afford.

Depending on your experience, see how much time do you need to finish the job. then multiply that by the hourly wage you think you deserve to start with. If you are doing a special work that deserve an extra wage. just add it to the total, also add your expences.

With time, you will have more accurate feeling about your market, and you can adjust your price accordingly.

Wish you the best,

I'd be inclined to disagree with this. If you're going into business, go into to business to make money ...

Find out what your costs are, apply your margins, and this will give you the pricing you need to make money. Cheap hosting, the sort that seems too good to be true, doesn't last.

Pick a reputable hosting company, and look into reseller agreements, and see what you can make off that.

You can charge what you like, and its up to the clients whether or not your price/package is within their budgetary constraints, so "what you'd like to charge" ain't necessarily going to be what they're gonna pay.

Decide on the portfolio of services you're going to offer, and chances are you'll have a different cost attached to some of them, because it's specialised knowledge you've accumulated, you still have to make it affordable and appealing to the client

--Ax

Agrees^^ (out of rep!)

check out Apollo Hosting for a good VPS account to get started. They only like $40 a month. You get root access and full control with HSP Complete, which IMO is an awesome reseller control panel.

With such a cheap monthly hosting overhead, you can afford to offer cheap hosting to companies as a springboard for doing hourly work with them.

For example: Get two customers paying 20$ a month for hosting and you've covered the cost of the server. Make your money in the updates or maintenance fees. Like - I charge 10$ a month for weekly offsite doc and database backups.

Not to mention what you can make from doing the actual code from them.