There is a great deal of competition in the UK for contracting roles. You need to price your self so you will get a contract but not undervalue yourself. That's why I suggested that looking at CWJobs is a good idea. Work out what the competition are charging and vary your rate depending on what you can bring to the table. Contractors tend to be paid more than perm staff (in the UK) so I assume that the OP is looking for more money and has fair idea of what they can live on.

Steve0 You can't polish a turd.

I contract in the UK and my rates vary depending on the role. So at the moment I'm working from home so I've accepted a reduced rate but if I have to travel it all bumps up the rate. So if I was your friend I would look at using something like CWJobs and see what the going rate is for the skill set and go from there. If your friend is working through his own company then ensure your contract is IR35 friendly. Also, in the contract include the hours you agree to work in a week (though I'm always flexible) and include the project your working on with deliverables. Working through your own company is a tax efficient way of working, pay yourself the min salary and take out the profit in the form of dividends. If you friend is not working through a limited company or an umbrella then be careful about your liability. What happens if your friend delivers faulty software and the client decides to take him to court?

Steve0 You can't polish a turd.

and we wonder why IT people have a terrible reputation in business! Do you think you could be one of those people that other people don't listen too and don't want to spend time with. Perhaps you have an inferiority complex that you outwardly express by attempting to be superior to other people. Why not ask them why they arent getting it - you might have to wake them up first though.

Steve0 You can't polish a turd.

you must have left your sense of humour in the gym.

Steve0 You can't polish a turd.

It's not about the hours that you put in it's what you put into those hours. I hate offices were people get kudos for being in extra early and leaving late. It should be about what you produce and the quality of your work.

Steve0 You can't polish a turd.

Thank you for the best of luck. My sense of humour isnt that subtle (If I have one) so I misunderstood you, but now I'm a happy bunny. Ok so I'm going with payments in stages and a written payment schedule. If I was a paying customer I couldnt argue with that. mmm getting clients to say yes and mean it, mmm bribery?

Steve0 - you can't polish a turd

Thanks for the info digital man, your a much better haggler than me if you can negotiate a rate of between 5-10% from an Agency :) I think I prefer the option of splitting the payments into logical chunk e.g. after each major stage. Have you had much luck getting companies to pay up front, even part of it? Agencies have their uses and I'm not knocking them but I want to run more like a business.

Steve0

I've been contracting for a little while now and I'm a little tired of paying agencies a hefty commission. So I want to start offering web creation and consultancy services through my website. I wanted to know if anyone else had experience of doing this and what kind of rates do you charge? When do you ask for payment e.g. up front, split your project into chunks and invoice for each chunk of work or do you get paid at the end of the project? Let me know your thoughts.

Steve0 - you can't polish a turd!

I've been lucky enough to take on applications written by other developers. My question is does anyone have a best way of getting to grips with a system e.g. just start using it, look at the database first, look at the code or document everything? I've always had a feeling there must be a better way of doing it.

You can't polish a turd.