 "How should I charge for services?" |  |
Consultants, self employed business people and nurse entrepreneurs regularly face the question, "How should I charge for my services?" In addition, nurse entrepreneurs may have more that one service for which they are charging and they may charge for these services differently.
For instance, a legal nurse consultant may bill for completing a chronology
on an hourly basis while billing a flat rate for finding an expert witness. A
home care agency may bill an hourly rate for extended hour care while billing a
flat rate for a home care visit or assessment.
In order to decide
how to charge, research the charge models that are typical in your industry.
Find out how your competitors are billing for their services and then decide if
this is the model that you would like to use.
You do not need to follow the same model, but you need to be aware of what is
typical in the industry. If you chose not to follow the same model, be prepared
to explain to your customers why a different model will actually benefit
them.
If you choose to bill a flat rate for a project, you
may want to break the project down into phases and price out each phase. This
way there are no big surprises for the customer or for you. When you finish each
phase, you can firm up the price for the next phase. This will also help you
collect for your services. You will ask to be paid as each phase is completed.
That will help your cash flow. You will also not get to the end of a huge
project and find out that your customer is unwilling or unable to pay for your
services.
Setting your fee is not just about how much to
charge, but how to charge. To determine what is right for you, take the
following steps:
- Research what is typical in your market.
- Determine if an hourly rate or a flat rate is best for you.
- Establish a rate that you will charge for each service.
- Prepare an explanation for your customer to support your method of charging and be prepared to provide this explanation if your customer asks about the method you use to charge for your services.
- Go out and sell your services!