| I want to share some things that I noticed over the years of doing estimations for work related to my small side project. - Discuss business problem that client is trying to solve. Often you can convince him to change requirements to make it cheaper for him, easier for you and better from technical point of view. - Know your client's expectations and attention to detail. Some clients want to solve some business problem as cheap as possible. They don't really care about aesthetics and technical nuances of the solution. Others want very specific UI or technical design and won't compromise on any little detail. - Listen to your gut. Sometimes I feel like something is complicated, but I can't really justify why and end up giving lower estimate. Almost always it was a mistake. - Always add some buffer for unexpected complications. Bigger the project - bigger the buffer (even in percentage terms). - I would also recommend to add some buffer for change requests. Almost always client would want to change some small things. It's easier to give bigger estimate upfront than try to charge for every small change later on. Client is never happy with additional charges, even if he knows that he hasn't asked it at the beginning of the project. - This last one might not be possible in every situation, but I personally always ask for full payment upfront. For really big projects - 50/50. It's not a part of estimation, but this requirement goes along with the estimate. Another option, if the project is big, is to estimate and implement features one by one. |