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Re: General Consulting Advice Urgently Needed

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markspace <-@.> wrote in news:jb0q3v$vtd$1@dont-email.me:

> On 11/28/2011 11:48 AM, Novice wrote:
>> He's actually asking if I'd do the work on a fixed-price contract
>> given a spec. Given that I'm chronically over-optimistic on how long
>> things will take, a fixed price contract would seem to be a very bad
>> idea. But how do I resist that? What are the standard justifications
>> for saying no to that question?
> 
> 
> I can't give you one.  If the customer actually has a reasonable 
> specification (and not just a wish list), then the only reasonable 
> counter offer is "I can't estimate this."
> 
> You can try to estimate it-- start working on the spec.  See what it 
> entails.  Are you really capable of doing it?  How long is it taking? 
> In essence here you're building a prototype to estimate the job. 
> Remember that estimates are hard and usually take time and cost money.
> If you get to a point where you really can't see spending more time on
> it, consider giving them a partial estimate for the parts you can do. 
> It's better than nothing.
> 
Is it reasonable to tell him that I won't commit to the project or offer 
any estimates until I feel I understand the spec? That would seem fair to 
me but I don't know if a customer would see it that way. I'm assuming I'd  
have to sign a non-disclosure agreement before he'd let me see the spec. 
At that point, I could imagine spending several days or maybe even a 
couple of weeks poring over the spec and making sure I'm clear on what he 
wants, then passing on the project altogether, passing on parts that I 
didn't think I could do, or accepting the whole project. 

I could easily imagine this taking a few hours of the customer's time as 
I confirm assumptions that I make as I read the spec. I'm not sure how he 
would feel about a drain on his time like that. Would that be something 
he'd expect? Or would he expect me to be so self-sufficient that anything 
beyond a few cursory questions would be a problem for him?

Also, would you agree that he should be charged for the time I put into 
understanding the spec (aside from a token free initial hour or 
whatever), even if I end up passing on the project altogether?   
> 
>>
>> Also, when you say that you'd seriously push time estimates on the
>> customer, I'm not sure what you're saying. Can you clarify please?
> 
> 
> I mean give them a rate and let them determine how long it should take
> someone of your experience.
> 
I'm getting the impression so far that they are basically a PHP shop and 
don't have much/any Java expertise so I'm not sure how they'd estimate 
things like coding time. How would they estimate tasks that maybe can't 
be done in their shop language? But maybe I'm wrong and they do have some 
strong Java people and just have them over-committed for the time being. 
I don't think I'd want to commit to estimates that were made by someone 
that wasn't at least as expert in Java as I am, and preferably more so. 



-- 
Rhino

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General Consulting Advice Urgently Needed Novice <novice@example..com> - 2011-11-28 15:41 +0000
  Re: General Consulting Advice Urgently Needed Jeff Higgins <jeff@invalid.invalid> - 2011-11-28 11:37 -0500
    Re: General Consulting Advice Urgently Needed Novice <novice@example..com> - 2011-11-28 17:04 +0000
      Re: General Consulting Advice Urgently Needed markspace <-@.> - 2011-11-28 11:09 -0800
        Re: General Consulting Advice Urgently Needed Novice <novice@example..com> - 2011-11-28 19:48 +0000
          Re: General Consulting Advice Urgently Needed markspace <-@.> - 2011-11-28 12:14 -0800
            Re: General Consulting Advice Urgently Needed Rhino <no.offline.contact.please@example.com> - 2011-11-28 21:28 +0000
              Re: General Consulting Advice Urgently Needed markspace <-@.> - 2011-11-28 14:14 -0800
                Re: General Consulting Advice Urgently Needed Novice <novice@example..com> - 2011-11-29 05:24 +0000
                Re: General Consulting Advice Urgently Needed Martin Gregorie <martin@address-in-sig.invalid> - 2011-11-29 20:44 +0000
  Re: General Consulting Advice Urgently Needed Novice <novice@example..com> - 2011-11-28 17:53 +0000
    Re: General Consulting Advice Urgently Needed Novice <novice@example..com> - 2011-11-28 19:52 +0000
    Re: General Consulting Advice Urgently Needed Arved Sandstrom <asandstrom3minus1@eastlink.ca> - 2011-11-29 07:20 -0400
      Re: General Consulting Advice Urgently Needed Novice <novice@example..com> - 2011-11-29 16:06 +0000
        Re: General Consulting Advice Urgently Needed Lew <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2011-11-29 12:04 -0800
          Re: General Consulting Advice Urgently Needed Novice <novice@example..com> - 2011-11-30 00:12 +0000
            Re: General Consulting Advice Urgently Needed Lew <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2011-11-29 22:02 -0800
              Re: General Consulting Advice Urgently Needed Novice <novice@example..com> - 2011-11-30 20:28 +0000
  Re: General Consulting Advice Urgently Needed Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2011-11-28 10:03 -0800
    Re: General Consulting Advice Urgently Needed Gene Wirchenko <genew@ocis.net> - 2011-11-28 10:44 -0800
      Re: General Consulting Advice Urgently Needed Novice <novice@example..com> - 2011-11-28 20:13 +0000
        Re: General Consulting Advice Urgently Needed Gene Wirchenko <genew@ocis.net> - 2011-11-28 12:59 -0800
      Re: General Consulting Advice Urgently Needed Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2011-11-29 14:04 -0800
        Re: General Consulting Advice Urgently Needed Gene Wirchenko <genew@ocis.net> - 2011-11-29 15:07 -0800
    Re: General Consulting Advice Urgently Needed Novice <novice@example..com> - 2011-11-28 19:56 +0000

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