Hi all, and Happy New Year.
As you know, I've been doing quite a bit of tech work lately in my area - emergency service, regular maintenance, and installs. With the way last year went, it looks as though I'm going to continue to be able to do this going forward. This is good.
One thing that I've been noticing is that many of my install customers (and even a few of my regular service call ones) are looking for information beyond the machine - menu structure, recipes, basic barista technique, bar layout, etc. I'm going to begin offering these services on a little more formal basis starting next week.
Based on the pricing for the SCAA's classes and the Counter Intelligence rate, I have an idea of how much is being charged for intro/hands on classes - around $150 per person. I'll probably discount that for my customers (or sessions that are attached to installs or maintenance jobs) to $125 per person, including coffee, milk, and course materials. This class is meant to take 4ish hours, depending on how many people are involved. I may discount additional people a little to reflect incremental costs.
The consulting fee is a bit of a question mark though. Can't very well charge my "street" tech rate of $60/hr for that, can I? Never hired a coffee consultant so I have no idea what the going rate is. So... what should I charge? What have you paid? What would strike you as being reasonable and fair? What, aside from answers to questions and chicken-scratch sketches, should my customer expect in return?
Thanks in advance for any input here.
Replies