RE: FN-FORUM: support dilemma

date posted 22nd September 2005 12:08

Inevitably "it depends". There are obviously situations where 'one man
band' support is completely inappropriate, but plenty of examples where it
works out fine. No generic rights or wrongs, though.

I always try to help clients understand the risks and issues so they can
best decide. Often they can see that the commitment and dedication of a one
man band is much more valuable that an army of people that don't know or
care about the client.

Charge looks way too low to me. Especially as you have no idea about what
you might asked do for you 100 quid. Bear in mind you could end up piggy in
the middle trying to correct problems that are not of your making! Better,
IMHO, to charge nothing, do bits and pieces for good will and to keep
contact so you get more work. That way you have a clear right to charge for
your time if you encounter difficult problems.

The alternative (which is the one I tend to use) is to charge fixed amounts
for fixed terms of support. That way no-one writes a blank cheque. But I
charge enough to make the effort worthwhile!

HTH,

Andy

-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL REMOVED] [EMAIL REMOVED] On Behalf Of stephen
gibson
Sent: 22 September 2005 06:03
To: FN-FORUM / [EMAIL REMOVED]
Subject: FN-FORUM: support dilemma


I am about to implement my first serious web site and am offering to host
the clients site as part of a reseller package I subscribe to but am a bit
uneasy as to what to offer the client regarding support as I am only a one
man band and can't guarantee 24 hour support. The site is fairly simple (php
and small mysql database) so shouldn't need too much support.
I'm proposing that I charge the client 100 pounds a year to basically keep
an eye on the site and the database, send them the stats and monitor the
search engine rating. They would be subject to the hosts terms and
conditions, downtime etc. Any updates to the site would require a quote from
me.
Does this sound about the right level of support? What does everyone else
using reseller packages do ?
Alternatively I could find another company to worry about the hosting but
then I'd probably lose out on any updates.
Thanks in advance.
Steve