[Sigia-l] Freelance IA consulting: Discovering the cost of doing business

[Anders Ramsay]

On 6/7/02 5:26 PM, Erin Malone at lists at emdezine.com wrote:

> I would have to respectfully disagree about this one. Undercharging just
> perpetuates the notion to clients that this type of work is not worth the
> same amount of money as other professionals  and their work. It also
> undermines rates that are fair and competitive by others in the field.

IMHO, this is not about undercharging.  It's about levels of experience and
supply and demand.  A starting IA (which I would equate with someone who has
a thin portfolio) who needs to build a portfolio may simply not have the
luxury of charging the 'market rate' which is likely the rate charged by a
more experienced IA.  Furthermore, the starting IA would unlikely be able to
justify charging a market rate because their quality of work may not be at
that level.  And when demand is down, as it is now (at least in NYC), rates
will also have to come down, especially considering that supply is high,
meaning that regardless of your level of experience, you will likely have to
choose between charging less or getting less (or no) work at all.

The ability to maintain a market rate that is (mostly) immune to market
forces requires an alliance of some sort on the supply side - if IAs were
unionized, for example, but that's another thread altogether.

-Anders