When a client asks you how long something takes to complete, don’t make the time it takes your starting point for deciding what to charge.
Instead, consider what the product or service is worth and what you need to charge for it.
Just because something takes you twenty minutes to create doesn’t mean you should charge for twenty minutes of work only.
More than likely, it takes you so little time because you’ve acquired the skill, experience or talent to produce it in such a short space of time.
Remember that cheeky retort attributed to Picasso?
“But you did that in thirty seconds.”
“No, it has taken me forty years to do that.”
You see, the work might take twenty minutes, but the ability to do it in twenty minutes is another matter entirely.
I’m not advocating lying or being dishonest about the time something takes. I’m advocating being more confident about the value of your skills and abilities.
Your responsibility is to deliver what you’ve promised, on time and to the agreed specifications. Your client’s responsibility is to decide whether what you’re offering is worth paying for.
And your responsibility to yourself is to know what your work is worth.
Value your hourly rate. It’s there for a reason. But don’t let the time it takes you to do something become the only measure of its value.
Sometimes, being good at what you do means making something look easy.
That doesn’t mean it was easy to learn.
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Photo: Mehmet Altintas / Pexels
