Large projects can be a real rollercoaster of emotions for freelancers and small business owners. There’s the thrill you feel when your quote gets confirmed, knowing that it guarantees you a significant income. But then you realise you have to actually do the work, which can quickly start to feel overwhelming.

I was recently asked for some advice on how to go about pricing these larger jobs. More specifically, I was asked how freelancers and small business owners can price large jobs to be competitive when quoting.

Although I understand the appeal of these larger projects, I would argue that if a big job doesn’t allow you to earn your usual rates, it might not be worth the effort. While the guaranteed income might give you a feeling of security, it’s important to remember that taking on a large project still has to make financial sense for your business.

With this in mind, in this blog post, I’m sharing 3 things to think about before you put together a quote for a large job.

Questions to ask yourself when deciding how much to charge for a large project

1) Is the turnaround time feasible for you?

First things first, you need to know when the client expects you to complete the job. This is one of the determining factors when it comes to pricing a large project, and even deciding whether to accept it in the first place.

Ask yourself if the turnaround time is a realistic and desirable option for you. Do you actually want to have to complete such a large project in the time the client would give you for it?

It can feel tempting to make sure you always find the time for a large project, but remember that you’re likely to have other ongoing jobs that you’ll have to work around too. Not only this, but unexpected things can happen as well. Just think about the last time you got an email from an important client that took you an hour to reply to when you’d planned to work on something else!

Use your time-tracking data to see whether the turnaround time is realistic for you or whether it would require you to work longer hours than you'd like. If you’re going to have to put in some overtime, I'd argue you should actually be charging a rush fee, not trying to be competitive!

2) What is the minimum fee you would be willing to do the job for?

Once you’ve understood if the timescales are feasible, ask yourself how much you'd need to earn from the job as an absolute minimum in order for it to be financially viable for you.

The method I teach in Charge with Confidence allows my mentees to calculate the basic hourly rate they need to be earning to enable them to cover both their business and personal expenses while working the number of hours they want to work.

I’d encourage you to do some calculations to this end. Get absolutely clear on the minimum you’d need to be earning from the project to make it worth your while, so you don’t have to put in extra hours or make up the difference elsewhere.

Once you have that number to hand, you can enter negotiations knowing what's at stake. If you accept less than that figure, you're going to have to work longer hours than normal or charge other clients higher rates to compensate for it. So before you agree to a price below that amount, ask yourself if working or charging others more is something you really want.

When sending a quote to a client, I would always recommend pricing the project higher than your minimum to leave some room for negotiation. This will help you avoid accepting anything less.

If you’d like some more negotiation tips, have a look at this blog post I wrote on how to negotiate on price when quoting for a job.

3) Would you be happy to turn down other work for this project?

The final thing to consider is whether or not you’d feel OK saying no to other clients so you can work on this large job.

Remember that because we provide services, there's no cost or time saving involved in a large project over a small one. While product-based businesses might be able to reduce their costs by ordering greater quantities or save time by preparing a single, large delivery rather than multiple ones, you can’t do the same. Your costs won’t change, and the more work you have, the longer it will take you to complete.

What’s more, if a large project is going to keep you busy for a prolonged period, you’re likely to have to turn away other work while completing it. You therefore want to make sure the price you quote is one you'll be happy with weeks or months down the line when you're saying no to other work.

In my experience, as freelancers and small business owners, we often end up resenting these bigger projects precisely because they take up all our time. 

So before accepting a large job, ask yourself whether it makes good business sense to take on a project of this magnitude. Could it lead to more opportunities in the future? Or by saying no to other clients, if this project is a one-off, could it actually prevent you from accepting other jobs and making more money in the long term? If this is the case, I’d argue once again that you should be charging more rather than trying to be competitive!

How to quote a large project

If you still want the project after considering the above, try to come up with a price that balances your needs with what you think your client’s budget might be. If your customer is a direct client and a large multinational company, for example, price might be less of an issue than it would be if your customer is an agency. Understanding this will help you decide how far above your minimum fee you can quote.

In this blog post on how to put together and send a quote to a client, I take you through the quoting process from beginning to end.

Whatever you choose to do and no matter what figure you decide to quote, always remember to check that taking on a large project makes sense for you and your business. And don’t forget that if you're trying to compete solely on price, there will always be someone who is willing to accept a lower rate than you…

If you’d like some support to get clear on the basic hourly rate you need to be earning to cover your expenses and make a decent living, you might be interested in Charge with Confidence. Through the programme, I’ll help you identify your minimum hourly rate so you can quote for projects (both large and small!) without second-guessing yourself.

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