> Should you be charging clients for time that you didn't have to spend
Yes! Completing a job or task in 1 week is more valuable than completing it in 5. The lion's share of value we provide as developers and consultants is not output but battle-tested intuitions that let us navigate the giant solution space, so bad decisions we don't make is definitely hard-earned value servicing the client.
A man once interrupted Picasso at his evening meal. Pulling a napkin from his pocket, the man said,
“Could you sketch something for me? I’ll pay you for it. Name your price.”
Picasso took a charcoal pencil from his pocket made a rapid sketch of a goat. It took only a few strokes, yet was unmistakably a Picasso. The man reached out for the napkin, but Picasso did not hand it over. “You owe me $100,000,” he said.
The man was outraged. “$100,000? Why? That took you no more than 30 seconds to draw!”
Picasso crumpled up the napkin and stuffed it into his jacket pocket. “You are wrong,” he said, dismissing the man. “It took me 40 years.”
That tired old Picasso story only works because the customer was not told up front how long the job was going to take.
As a consultant, you are typically billing by the hour (or day) and you will most likely be giving the client some kind of estimate/quote as to how long the job will take, and your rate, and hence the cost to them.
You might very well be able to do the job in one week rather than 5, but it would be dishonest to tell the customer it will take 5, then complete it in 1, but still bill them for 5.
Instead you should tell the customer that it would normally take 5, but you are able to do it in 1, so you are charging 5x (or 3x or whatever) the going rate.
> Instead you should tell the customer that it would normally take 5, but you are able to do it in 1, so you are charging 5x (or 3x or whatever) the going rate.
but the problem shows up when the customer doesn't believe you when you say you're 5x faster.
They compare you against another consultant, who might be cheaper, and say that you're just over charging.
Therefore, you should be charging the going rate, but do it 5x faster, and have free time to take on more projects. You could also deliver earlier, and then have a charge for change requests (which invariably come).
I mean, of course it’s up to you to make potential clients believe you. If you give me no reason whatsoever to think you’re a competent and accomplished contractor, why would I “believe” you?
There's only so much expertise you can put into "a few strokes". Charging for 5 weeks to do something in 1 week, that is high quality and still needs support? Go for it. The story about charging $9999 to know exactly where to mark the problem that everyone else couldn't solve, $1 for the mark itself? Great. But plenty of people could make an "unmistakable" Picasso that's only a few strokes. If that sketch is worth even a percent of the asking price, it's based on his fame. It has the value of an autograph, not the value of 40 years of practice.
Yes! Completing a job or task in 1 week is more valuable than completing it in 5. The lion's share of value we provide as developers and consultants is not output but battle-tested intuitions that let us navigate the giant solution space, so bad decisions we don't make is definitely hard-earned value servicing the client.
A man once interrupted Picasso at his evening meal. Pulling a napkin from his pocket, the man said,
“Could you sketch something for me? I’ll pay you for it. Name your price.”
Picasso took a charcoal pencil from his pocket made a rapid sketch of a goat. It took only a few strokes, yet was unmistakably a Picasso. The man reached out for the napkin, but Picasso did not hand it over. “You owe me $100,000,” he said.
The man was outraged. “$100,000? Why? That took you no more than 30 seconds to draw!”
Picasso crumpled up the napkin and stuffed it into his jacket pocket. “You are wrong,” he said, dismissing the man. “It took me 40 years.”