Overview

This is a two-part article series addressing a question I bumped into on u/Entrepreneurs, one of the sub-Reddits I enjoy following.

Background

While learning to develop web apps that are secure, well laid-out from a UI/UX point of view, and serving as a useful "tool" for my own business ventures, I discovered that this process is far more involved than quickly stuffing a template full of content.

I've had a very diverse career-life and got involved in many different business types, with a very broad spectrum of people and cultures. This "school" was a hard, tough, and sometimes pure hell on all fronts in my life.

This was fortunate happenstance for me. It opened my mind like you open a door to a stale basement, blowing new air through every rigid neuron in there.

I've met many people that have had similar experiences and learned that it's the nature of the beast. "It is what it is", they say.

Why then continue to go through this often bloody battle of "Entrepreneuring", as I like to call it?

There is a list of reasons that jumps to mind, but for me personally, the most satisfying one to date is to get validation that what you are doing is benefiting others as much as it is benefiting you. Not more, not less. And no, don't think money. That's the wrong tree.

What's It Really Worth?

One of my personal pain-points has always been "what's the value of A, B, or Z"? How much am I willing to pay for something vs my perception of its true contribution-value to my situation?

If there's a lot of cash, it is easy, just throw cash at it. If it works, cool. If it doesn't, try something else and throw more cash around. When you need to tighten the belts, it becomes less easy. You become picky, you start thinking deeper and analysing more before parting with your cash. I'm fairly certain I'm not the only one.

There are hundreds if not thousands of books written by some very prominent people in the world, about how they manage their money. I'm not going into it, but one thing is clear; if you don't respect your own money, you don't respect yourself.

How is it that something so hard-earned gets thrown away so easily? There are three culprits woven into one. Me, Myself, and I. We are Ego. Look around, you'll spot them.

Thinking Right - Thinking Wider - Thinking Wiser

So, as "engineers" and "developers" of anything basically, you have to keep these human character traits in mind.

If you don't, you might find you have made something that;

• Nobody can afford because it "is just too much",
• or nobody wants because it "is a piece of impractical crap",
• and the worst loss is when it's good, affordable, and functional but poorly documented and hard to apply from an uninformed person's or new user's point of view.

Want vs Need

Finding the "golden middle-way" is tricky even when you put a lot of research into it. And by research I mean speaking to people about what they actually NEED, not WANT.

Once all-involved understand the actual need, they are getting somewhere. When everybody is aligned there is agreement, and something useful can be created.

It now has intrinsic value, and the next simple step is to realise that to get the benefit from that value, it is going to cost X, Y, or Z and in various currencies.

Insight, Foresight, Skill, Time, Dedication, Money

The higher the quality of each of these, the better the outcome.

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Part I

Part I is an introduction to one problem area I have noticed when it comes to typical web development work done by freelance developers that are not based in North America.

It’s not an excuse being made, but rather a discussion of feelings and perceptions that are revealed in various social media channels I have seen.

The core issue is about how developers should price themselves as non-US developers and whether they could get compensated on par with what devs in the US are asking.

Complaining or griping more about it does not really help, but it’s a good back-drop for finding potential solutions, rather than adding more wood to the fire.

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Part II

Part II covers the Possibilities in a Practical, tangible way of how you actually can price your work Objectively.

It also includes an Excel Workbook, nothing overly fancy, but a fairly comprehensive one which takes one in a step-by-step manner to come to some revealing, factual conclusions.

It simplifies the process into to a list of variables (input rows) that can be expanded or reduced, depending on the specifics of the project.

Both are rather lengthy posts and re-posting the content here will take another hour or three, which is counterproductive. They are currently best viewed on my Substack space called Dragons In The Basement.

Comments and discussion here on DEV about the post are welcomed, though.