PDA

View Full Version : Tracking your time



vangogh
08-09-2008, 02:18 AM
One of the things that's helped me the most since I started my business is keeping track of my time as well as possible.

Since my business model is essentially offering services based directly on the time I spend delivering those services it's obviously important to know how much time I spend in order to bill clients, but I find it also helps me better understand how much I should charge in the first place.

I remember when I first starting developing websites I didn't really know in advance how long it would take to finish any given project. Estimating a job always involves a little guesswork, but in the beginning it involved a lot. I think I would underbid by far on one job and completely overbid on another and often didn't get either job.

The more I track projects and the more I track the specific parts of a project the better I've gotten at estimating the next project. it helps a lot in being able to charge clients less than someone else might, but also not too little where I can't make my own rates.

Does everyone else here track their time? It doesn't matter so much how you track time, but are you good at knowing how many hours it typically takes to complete certain tasks?

KarenB
08-09-2008, 06:59 PM
Hi Steve,

As a virtual assistant, most of my services are based on an hourly rate, so I do need to track my time. I provide customer support/help desk services mainly via email. In many cases, I'm the person who responds to those "Contact Us" forms on websites.

Over the years, I've pretty much determined how long it takes to resolve a customer issue from start to finish, so the average time spent on each one is fairly consistent.

With certain services such as transcription, I prefer to charge a fixed rate because I already know the approximate time it takes to transcribe a one-hour audio or video.

I remember being asked to quote a flat fee on a job that required a huge amount of data entry. My first inclination (just to get the gig) was to quote what I *thought* sounded right. Then I thought about how many seconds (yes, seconds) it would take to do the internet research and input each record into a database. There were over 10,000 records. Even a difference of 15 seconds per record made a notable difference in my final quote.

It can be a real eye opener to track one's time, at least in the beginning when one is not sure of how long a project will really take. As one becomes more experienced, I think it becomes easier to provide accurate estimates.

Karen

vangogh
08-09-2008, 08:06 PM
I still mostly offer project rates, but I base it off my hourly rate. I estimate the time and multiply so coming up with a good estimate is key to whether or not I come out ahead or behind on a project.

Some things I'll do hourly. I have long term clients who trust me and know I'll treat them right and for small jobs I just do the work and let them know after. I still like to give then an idea up front so the total isn't a surprise.

I've had a few of those jobs where the the job called for handling a lot of individual records. In my case it was taking someone's content and adding it to a website template I designed. It wasn't measured in seconds, but I know what you mean about being off a little really throws off the job.

There's really know way to know in the beginning how long some things will take so tracking it helps to better estimate things.

The other thing about it is after a year or so has passed you can measure your skills and see if you're doing the same tasks faster than you did the year before

By the way I just noticed you have a blog now. If you ever want I can probably turn your site design into a WordPress theme so you can host the blog on your site. I think it's better for search engine traffic that way. I'm very familiar with how your site is coded as well as WordPress so I don't think it would take too long.

Leatherneck
08-09-2008, 09:20 PM
My bussiness is all done by estimating and submiting a formal proposal which is a contract that only changes when the customer makes a change, If i miss calculate. It is my loss.

My estimates are done by the foot in most cases. I figure all my material for a certain style of fence and the labor. Even my labor is figured by the foot. I figure extra for differnt items like Gates single or double drive. I add on for corners and gates, differnt landscape situations that add comllication. After all is figured I add my profit margin too the total and go from there. I have done so many fences that most of the time i know how many days it will take me. Once and a while i do get fooled though, so i just lose a little in my profit margin.

vangogh
08-09-2008, 10:04 PM
I guess for you it's less about estimating the time as it is an overall estimate, but still your labor is probably based on time so it's good to know how long different jobs take.

Do you ever record how long each job takes in an excel file or document of some kind. You could probably make notes where the digging was a little more difficult on one job or for anything extra you have to do. It might make for a good reminder on the next job when to let you know it might end up taking longer than you originally thought.

orion_joel
08-10-2008, 01:06 AM
I used to be very much in the area that required estimates and such by the hour. However i have read so many different books and articles and such that all go along the thought path that working at an hourly rate will never make you rich, i have ended up trying to steer away from hourly work in my business. In favor of tasks that can take very little time or can just have a small increase in time but big increase in profit.

The sort of thing i mean is selling products rather then time. For example on an average Toner i may make $25 profit, after delivery of $13 from my supplier, i make $12 profit, if the client orders 1 i might spend 15 minutes arranging this, so still doing alright, however if they decide they have a few printers and want to keep spares as well they may order 10, the time it takes me does not change and the delivery fee at worst may go up to $20, which means for the same 15 minutes i have gone from $12 profit to $230 profit.

I generally do not track time to much, for my sales and such, however i know for a fact the more products i can sell in one order, or that i can order at the same time, the time varies very little, but the profit can go through the roof.

Recently i have been using a program called Rescuetime, that tracks how much time you spend on your computer doing different things. It allows you to categorize the time on different tasks so that you can see if you spending time on what you should be on the computer, the one thing i fond when i put a lot of the things i do on the computer into the wasting time category, i was surprised just how much time i wasted on the computer, and i am trying to get this down and spend more time working on my own business on the computer then on the time wasting tasks.

vangogh
08-10-2008, 05:14 PM
I agree. One of my goals for this is to create products. I'm working on a WordPress theme now. That will scale much better than doing custom design, though I still intend to keep doing what I have been for my clients as always.

I'd like to create several streams of revenue so I'm not so dependent on any one for all my income.

Affiliate marketing is another thing on my plate to look into. At some point we'll monetize this forum at least to help pay the bills of running the place, but ideally to bring in a little extra money each month as well.

I've heard of Rescuetime. I think there are a few similar products that track what you do on your computer so you can see where your time goes and adjust.

orion_joel
08-11-2008, 01:24 AM
Vangogh, Your WordPress theme is a great example of something like i mentioned, it may take you 40-100 hours up front to create (sorry not sure really the extent and time you are putting in to this). But then if you sell it for say $29, or whatever price you are looking at, everytime you sell it without being involved personally in the sale, increases your income per hour against the time you initially invested to develop it.

vangogh
08-11-2008, 11:50 AM
That's the basic idea. It'll probably take more time to develop and it'll cost more, but the general idea is just like you say to increase the money I can earn per hour of work. Assuming I do a good job developing it and marketing it, of course. There aren't any guarantees.