Crucial Freelancer Skill: Estimating Your Time
Filed Under: Graphic Design, Web Design
In my business as a web designer, the first thing a client often wants from me, after we discuss their project, is an estimate. For me, this is purely a matter of estimating how much time a proposed project will take. But that’s not as easy as it sounds.
As I advance in skill, some projects tend to take longer. They look nicer, but they cost more. And that’s something I failed to take into consideration on my most recent project. I’m going to eat quite a bit of time because I overstretched myself in the design and coding phase. It took me quite a few hours longer than I had estimated with the client, and I still have a couple of promised components to go too. My mistake, certainly not the client’s.
Another mistake I made was not doing my site proposal process. In my site proposal, I outline the different aspects of the process and how many hours I think it will take for each area. I named a single figure for this rush job, and didn’t put enough time into evaluating the job.
Every mistake is a learning opportunity. Here’s what I’ve learned from this project:
- Always do a site proposal document first. Setting the scope out in paper makes it clear when, if the client requests something that isn’t in the proposal document, it will cost more.
- Take into consideration that you will take more time as you become a better designer, spending that time on little details that make a design go pop.
- Research the technical feasibility of features before you offer them and include them in your designs. (oops) Otherwise you can end up burning hours of your own time trying to figure out if something is even possible.
It’s been a long couple of days this week, but this project is nearly done. I’ll do some training tomorrow and figure out that last bit of technology when the company I contacted writes me back. I’m looking forward to adding the project to my portfolio.
Now, to take a break for a couple of hours and rest, before diving back into another project.
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