

Ask HN: Should I focus on iOS or Rails as Freelance?  - BSousa

Hi<p>I'm currently trying to go freelance full-time and going through a dillema on where I should focus my attention and time.<p>While I'm more versatile on iOS (and have a lot of experience on C++ code, from nginx modules to multiplatform systems code and games) I have also been involved in 
various Rails projects.<p>I'm trying to build a small portfolio to attract potential clients and find work but I don't really know on what I should focus. Preferences wise, I have things I like and dislike about both platforms. I'm more worried about getting clients than personal fullfilment to be honest (as I have my own pet projects for that) as I want to focus on getting more international clients and as such, a good portfolio is a must (since networking is so much harder).<p>I currently charge 50 USD/hour for iOS development work but would like to up my charges a bit since going full-time involves some more expenses as well.<p>Thank you
Bruno
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andymoe
You will get more money for iOS dev work than Rails work and it sounds like
that's where your experience is. Also 50/hr is way too low for freelance iOS
development and on the lower side for salaried position as well. That's only
like 76k gross at 80pct billable and I'd never do the math at more than 75pct
to be safe. Shoot for at least 150/hr. Even if you are only billing half the
time you are still going to be OK. Also iOS development is more fun ;-)

Edit: Even the good people I've worked with outside the US charge $75 US/hr
for iOS development work.

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BSousa
Hi Andy

Is 50/hr that low? I know it isn't the US rate, but getting even 30 USD/hr
here is hard (that's why I'm trying to focus more internationally and thus the
need to do portfolio work as much of my apps are in the local app store).

~~~
chanced
$50/hr is rather low (especially on corp-to-corp (C2C) or 1099 but that
largely depends on the market, duration of the contract, whether you can claim
it in your portfolio, and so on.

Keep in mind that people will naturally appraise your abilities on your
perceived value. If you are coming in 50% lower than the competition, they
instantly think that you are worth at least 50% less.

Something that seems to work fairly well for me is I have a base rate of $85
(for rails or UX dev) and then offer discounts depending on the duration (in
months):

2 - 3: $80

3 - 9: $75

9 - 12: $70

This tells them that I'm "worth" $85/hr but because they are saving me money
by reducing downtime, I'm passing that savings on to them. They feel like they
are getting a good deal and I get longer contracts.

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tagabek
I've been looking into doing freelance/contract work, too. However, I am in
the US. I know there are many different tips and tricks to charging what you
want, but can anyone with iOS freelance experience share their experience with
pricing methods?

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michaelpinto
Throwing the question back at you: If you're more worried about clients which
do you think has the higher demand and the best long term potential? Which is
going to give the best client base?

~~~
BSousa
Thanks for the reply!

I guess that is actually what I'm asking. At HN, seems there are more people
requiring Rails/web devs, but outside, seems iOS devs are more in demand.

Right now and in all honesty, my main concern is supporting my family, I have
a few months salary I can burn through while developing the portfolio, but I'm
afraid of betting on the wrong horse so to say.

~~~
michaelpinto
Well I think if you are just looking for a quick buck reverse engineer what
Objective-C and Ruby programmers are getting paid by looking at both the
volume of want ads and which is getting the higher rate. Just keep in mind
that languages can go out of style faster than you think.

Another way to look at is if you want to bet on apps vs. the web in terms of
growth over the long term. And frankly I don't think anyone has a real answer
for that yet, in fact over the long haul it might even be a false divide.

Lastly for my money I think the best programmers are always ones who are good
at multiple languages. So for example you might build a native app with
Objective-C (maybe Java for Android) and then create a backend using Ruby or
something on a server. I'd also point out to you that other skills like a
knowledge of a specific industry and just the ability to communicate can make
an average programmer very desirable as an employee or freelancer.

~~~
BSousa
I'm actually quite proficient in various languages (C++, C#, Haskell,
Objective-C, Ruby) and have done work on various frameworks (ASP.net, ASP MVC,
Rails, yesod, CastleMVC, QT, wxWdigets). Right now my main problem is getting
clients as most of my work is 'hidden' by contracts and NDAs.

btw, you last name Pinto, latin/portuguese by chance?

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danso
$50/hr seems low for development work? That's what I would charge for standard
website development (HTML/CSS/basic JS)

~~~
BSousa
Well, if you ever need a dev for $50/hr you know where to find one ;)

Seriously though, while not from India or Pakistan, I still live in a low-cost
country (Portugal) compared to most of the USA or UK. $50/hr affords me a good
quality of life. The market may allow me to charge more, but at the moment, I
can't even find many clients at this rate (thus, focusing right now on
building a public portfolio, I have other projects I have worked on that are
very well rated on the Appstore, but can't really use them as showcase due to
NDAs I've signed).

~~~
danso
Ah yes, I was wondering if you were outside the States, but decided to be
ethnocentric and assume you were in the U.S. because of your excellent
English.

~~~
BSousa
Thanks! I lived in the UK for a few years and learned most of my english from
cartoons ;)

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marcomassaro
iOS development. No brainer. Everything is moving to mobile and good iOS devs
are in demand now. Plus, I hate rails.

~~~
jonascopenhagen
Actually, there's a growing tendency towards mobile websites (as opposed to
native apps). Sure there a certain things that mobile websites can't do, but
the majority of the apps out there don't use those things.

~~~
tagabek
In the past 6 months, I have seen a massive increase in the amount of sites
that are mobile-ready. It is interesting to see the standards that have
developed for most of the sites. I still find that most lack creativity, but
that may just be an ignorant view of the cover of the book.

