Safetygoat

Charging for your time

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

I’ve had an interesting week, and it’s only Wednesday.

I was fully booked in for work this week when I checked my calendar last Friday.  It was a well-paid week.  I am not taking on any new clients, as I’m technically overbooked.  I really love the projects I’m working on right now too.  They’re challenging, interesting, and I like the people.

But, with the exception of regular maintenance stuff, all my booked in projects have been hit with delays.  Most of them are understandable, and I’ve agreed to delay them. So, I’ve gone from a well-paid week, to making practically nothing.

Should you charge?

With clients that constantly change their schedules, I sometimes tell them that if they continue to schedule in time with me, I’ll have to charge them for that time, even if they don’t use it.  My problem is, I feel guilty about this: I’m not working for them then.

But, at the same time, I want them to understand that it’s really inconvenient for me to not be able to depend on the work and be able to organize my time:  I could take on other projects in those days.  This week has been the first time it’s been an issue: usually I’ve got enough projects on the go that I can fill my time and offer them a little flexibility, which works well for everyone.

The question

Do you charge?  How much do you charge?  How do you let them know, to encourage them to be more diligent in their organization?  Or, is it merely the price you pay for being a freelancer?