I Charged $18k for a Static HTML Page • Hacker News Board

Re: I Charged $18k for a Static HTML Page

#361

Post by fencepost » Thu, May 16, 2019, 1:21 AM UTC

otakucode wrote: post #329

crispyambulance wrote: post #178

My parents had been running their own tailor shop in the 80's, barely making ends meet, pulling in less than $20K a year. It wasn't for lack of business, father was a master tailor trained in Italy and capable of elite bespoke craftsmanship. They had as much business as they could handle. The problem was that they were charging what they thought the work was worth rather than what their customers were willing to pay.…

I've a friend who has run his own small IT business for a bit over a decade. When I talk to him and he mentions how much he charges, I always tell him it is far too low. He sees it as being easy for him, so he doesn't think he should charge much. I've tried to explain to him that when the plumber comes over, you're not loading that guy down with quantum physics work... he knows how to unclog your drain or run a new w…

Steer him to /r/msp or to Karl Palachuk's books.

If his prices are that low he could likely increase by 25% or more and not lose any clients - and even if he did lose some odds are good that they'd be his cheapest and worst ones.

If you double your rates and lose half your customers, congratulations! Now you have the same revenue plus available time to go find more customers fine with the higher rate.

Re: I Charged $18k for a Static HTML Page

#362

Post by atoav » Thu, May 16, 2019, 1:22 AM UTC

antepodius wrote: post #153

madeofpalk wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its stories (and personal experience) like this that make me laugh when people try and say that governments are inefficient and lacks accountability.

Big things are more likely to be inefficient and lack accountability. Governments are big, so are big corporations.

Interestingly enough there is also evidence, that a government structure with much smaller parts (decentralization) is even more inefficent, and especially prone to corruption.

Re: I Charged $18k for a Static HTML Page

#363

Post by fencepost » Thu, May 16, 2019, 1:23 AM UTC

wallace_f wrote: post #278

aequitas wrote: post #231

A valuable lesson I learned at a young age from one of my first 'customers' when doing computer repair jobs for friends and neighbours was is that you don't get paid for what you can or do but for the value you add or time (money) you save someone. Most of the time the problems I had to solve where easy ones. Install printer, update software, remove toolbars, email settings, etc. All 5 minute work jobs, seldom totall…

That's lucky. When I sas 19, around the height of IE and 'every Windows box with malware,' I tried to start a similar business. Probably my most wealthy client, with an oversized SUV in the driveway, had a home computer rendered unusable by malware--something I had fixed before. But she ended up asking me to leave. She decided she wanted "real professionals" working on her computer. She told me I didn't know what I w…

Goosh.org

"You're not paying me to search Google, you're paying me to know what to search for and how the results apply or don't to your particular situation."

Re: I Charged $18k for a Static HTML Page

#364

Post by SantalBlush » Thu, May 16, 2019, 1:35 AM UTC

JudgeWapner wrote: post #308

jld wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How are dollars I have paid to the government any more mine than dollars I have paid to a company?

government has people with guns to force its income stream. corporations do not.

Corporations lobby the government to change laws to boost their profit. Those laws are enforced by guns.

It is a myth that corporations like free markets.

Re: I Charged $18k for a Static HTML Page

#365

Post by _davebennett » Thu, May 16, 2019, 1:37 AM UTC

Legit the definition of corporate

Re: I Charged $18k for a Static HTML Page

#366

Post by kortilla » Thu, May 16, 2019, 1:44 AM UTC

madeofpalk wrote: post #120

sharkweek wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Big companies (rather, people at big companies) WANT to spend money on this kind of stuff for all sorts of reasons. -A team might have use-it-or-lose-it budget, so they have to spend it on something, and a contractor might be the lucky recipient! -Tax purposes! -Spending a lot on a contractor gives them someone to "fire" when they need to explain why something wasn't getting done or something went poorly! The list go…

Its stories (and personal experience) like this that make me laugh when people try and say that governments are inefficient and lacks accountability.

Governments lack accountability because there is no incentive to be sustainable. They just tax people more or run a higher deficit.

If Whole Foods wastes their money and goes out of business, I don’t care. I’m not being forced to pay them to make up for it.

Re: I Charged $18k for a Static HTML Page

#367

Post by nitrogen » Thu, May 16, 2019, 1:47 AM UTC

ceejayoz wrote: post #356

chaiii wrote: post #353

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if it's sustainable though. If you keep raising the prices and people buy what you're selling, and then eventually realize the quality isn't up to par of what they're paying for.

> then eventually realize the quality isn't up to par of what they're paying for Will they? https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/04/2... > Nordstrom is selling “mud-stained” jeans to the tune of $425. They’re called the “Barracuda Straight Leg Jeans” and come with some sort of fake mud substance caked all over them. (It’s not clear what that substance is.) The knees, pockets and crotch of the jeans…

If the fake mud is high quality and doesn't just flake off...

Re: I Charged $18k for a Static HTML Page

#368

Post by kortilla » Thu, May 16, 2019, 1:48 AM UTC

dwaltrip wrote: post #309

lone_haxx0r wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least private companies are losing their own earned money when they're inefficient, not someone else's.

Private companies are also dependent on a highly developed society to make everything they do possible. There are many reasons that Google and Amazon didn't exist a thousand years ago, and it isn't solely due to the lack of computing technology. And so it is entirely sensible that everyone should contribute towards keeping the highly developed society functioning as best as it can.

That has no relevance to whether google got money under the threat of violence (government taxation) or whether it’s money that was voluntarily given to them for goods/services.

Google wasting money is no different than my neighbor wasting money. The government wasting money is upsetting because it was taken from me supposedly to help the country.

Your perspective might be different if you pay very little in taxes.

Re: I Charged $18k for a Static HTML Page

#369

Post by kortilla » Thu, May 16, 2019, 1:50 AM UTC

JabavuAdams wrote: post #286

imtringued wrote: post #279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The government isn't supposed to run a profit. Therefore it becomes very difficult to know which part of it is wasteful and which isn't. Companies simply fail if they don't make a profit or have an outside funding source.

Not nearly quickly enough to be a curb on wasteful behaviour at large companies, and these are the ones that affect public policy.

Much faster than waste at a government is curbed, which is essentially not until the country’s currency collapses.

Re: I Charged $18k for a Static HTML Page

#370

Post by kortilla » Thu, May 16, 2019, 1:51 AM UTC

SantalBlush wrote: post #364

JudgeWapner wrote: post #308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

government has people with guns to force its income stream. corporations do not.

Corporations lobby the government to change laws to boost their profit. Those laws are enforced by guns. It is a myth that corporations like free markets.

Which law forces me to pay google money?