IT service and maintenance - what are the going rates?

Greetings everyone,

I was wondering if anyone here engages in IT services on the side—perhaps as a hobby, through your own LLC, or even full-time? I’m specifically talking about hardware servicing for small businesses or nonprofits, general maintenance, installations, database management, or web development (whether you're building sites from scratch or just handling the upkeep).

I am quite curious about how you all structure your pricing, what kind of terms you typically operate under, and your preferred workflow—for instance, whether you insist on a formal service contract or work more informally.

Please, do share your insights! I have a potential opportunity on the horizon that fits this description perfectly, and I want to make sure I am thoroughly prepared for it.🙂

Thanks so much,

Sandra Stewart3 said:Greetings everyone,

I was wondering if anyone here engages in IT services on the side—perhaps as a hobby, through your own LLC, or even full-time? I’m specifically talking about hardware servicing for small businesses or nonprofits, general maintenance, installations, database management, or web development (whether you're building sites from scratch or just handling the upkeep).

I am quite curious about how you all structure your pricing, what kind of terms you typically operate under, and your preferred workflow—for instance, whether you insist on a formal service contract or work more informally.

Please, do share your insights! I have a potential opportunity on the horizon that fits this description perfectly, and I want to make sure I am thoroughly prepared for it.🙂

Thanks so much,

Man, you're casting way too wide a net here. Every single one of those topics is its own entire career path.
Generally speaking, you definitely want everything in writing via a contract. As for pricing? It's all over the place. You might bill some things by the hour, while other projects are strictly flat-fee based...

Honestly, I don't quite grasp the logic here—is it just a given that if you show up, people will assume you're their personal IT department, ready to rip apart Ethernet cables across an entire office building, build them a database from scratch, and launch a website just because you happened to be in the room?

But, much as I hate to admit it, I’ve stumbled upon this exact dilemma myself, which actually makes it a bit easier to bring up. A buddy of mine works as an electrician, currently wiring up this boutique hotel—nothing massive, maybe twenty rooms or so—and they’re looking for someone "to set up the internet." He reached out to me through a mutual friend, even though this isn't my primary lane. I used to tinker with stuff like this years ago, though strictly as a hobby, and it feels like a lifetime ago. My gut instinct was to say no immediately, but there's this nagging little itch in my brain that won't let it go. Right now, he's busy pulling cables, so what I really need to do is tell him where to mount the rack and designate the drop points for the access points.

I was thinking about deploying some Ubiquiti UAP-AC-LITE APs https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B016K4GQ..._D3IvCbN8N1H9R

That setup seems reasonable enough to me, but I’d love to hear what you all would recommend.

The electrician would handle the physical mounting; my role would essentially be ensuring the whole ecosystem actually functions. I can't give a definitive count since I haven't stepped foot in the layout yet, and estimating coverage blindly is always a gamble. If we’re talking two per floor, plus reception, the dining area, the gym, the pool... whatever else they've got tucked away, we could easily be looking at fifteen units. I'm currently weighing switch and router options, perhaps a Cisco unit like the CRS125-24G-1S-IN

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I4QJRWE..._RAJvCbCEEE0TE

Or would it be wiser to opt for something more streamlined? I am genuinely open to suggestions here. For instance, https://www.ui.com/unifi-switching/unifi-switch-poe/

What specific technical hurdles should I be looking out for, and more importantly, how does one actually price these kinds of gigs? There isn't much heavy lifting involved on my end—maybe some crimping or punching down cables into a patch panel, though I'll likely skip the grunt work. I assume charging by the hour is a fool's errand, otherwise, you'd be swimming in cash, but I plan to present a firm quote upfront and request a deposit. It's better to secure payment ahead of time; if I try to play it loose and then realize I underbid, I don't want to be stuck in that awkward position of saying, "My apologies, I miscalculated, you owe me more money."

You'd make way more money if you ditched these overpriced gadgets and just grabbed some Chinese gear from Amazon or AliExpress instead. Offer them a lower price point—it’ll perform exactly the same as the stuff on Amazon, trust me. Just ask for a deposit that covers your entire order cost.
I mean, if you try to source this expensive stuff—say, an access point is $600 and the router plus shipping is another $250—you're looking at nearly $900. If you slap a 30% markup on that, you're hitting almost $1,200. Nobody is going to hand you that kind of cash.
Instead, grab 10 APs from China for $20 each, which is only $200, and a switch for $50. That’s $250 total. Throw a $250 profit margin on top, and you've got a $500 package that anyone would be willing to pay for.

Ronald Price3 said:Honestly, I don't quite grasp the logic here—is it just a given that if you show up, people will assume you're their personal IT department, ready to rip apart Ethernet cables across an entire office building, build them a database from scratch, and launch a website just because you happened to be in the room?

But, much as I hate to admit it, I’ve stumbled upon this exact dilemma myself, which actually makes it a bit easier to bring up. A buddy of mine works as an electrician, currently wiring up this boutique hotel—nothing massive, maybe twenty rooms or so—and they’re looking for someone "to set up the internet." He reached out to me through a mutual friend, even though this isn't my primary lane. I used to tinker with stuff like this years ago, though strictly as a hobby, and it feels like a lifetime ago. My gut instinct was to say no immediately, but there's this nagging little itch in my brain that won't let it go. Right now, he's busy pulling cables, so what I really need to do is tell him where to mount the rack and designate the drop points for the access points.

I was thinking about deploying some Ubiquiti UAP-AC-LITE APs https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B016K4GQ..._D3IvCbN8N1H9R

That setup seems reasonable enough to me, but I’d love to hear what you all would recommend.

The electrician would handle the physical mounting; my role would essentially be ensuring the whole ecosystem actually functions. I can't give a definitive count since I haven't stepped foot in the layout yet, and estimating coverage blindly is always a gamble. If we’re talking two per floor, plus reception, the dining area, the gym, the pool... whatever else they've got tucked away, we could easily be looking at fifteen units. I'm currently weighing switch and router options, perhaps a Cisco unit like the CRS125-24G-1S-IN

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I4QJRWE..._RAJvCbCEEE0TE

Or would it be wiser to opt for something more streamlined? I am genuinely open to suggestions here. For instance, https://www.ui.com/unifi-switching/unifi-switch-poe/

What specific technical hurdles should I be looking out for, and more importantly, how does one actually price these kinds of gigs? There isn't much heavy lifting involved on my end—maybe some crimping or punching down cables into a patch panel, though I'll likely skip the grunt work. I assume charging by the hour is a fool's errand, otherwise, you'd be swimming in cash, but I plan to present a firm quote upfront and request a deposit. It's better to secure payment ahead of time; if I try to play it loose and then realize I underbid, I don't want to be stuck in that awkward position of saying, "My apologies, I miscalculated, you owe me more money."

Oh, I don't just have it "in mind," I actually have a legitimate job offer sitting right in front of me to take over all of those exact responsibilities! It would be replacing someone who is already handling everything for this company. See, they've had this person on board for years, working under some old, legacy contracts with rates and terms set way back in the day, so I'm really just trying to get a pulse on what the current market rate looks like for all that work today.

Hey,
I wouldn't dream of touching unverified Chinese hardware. When it comes to Cisco or Ubiquiti, you're looking at solid, reliable gear that’s actually worth the investment—once you get them installed and configured, you can basically forget they even exist. But if you try to cut corners with consumer-grade junk or cheap imports, you're just asking for trouble. Sure, everything might look fine during your initial setup, but what happens when forty guests suddenly flood into a hotel and try to hit the Wi-Fi all at once? It needs to hold up. Otherwise, you'll be stuck getting frantic calls from the owner complaining that the connection is dropping or that nobody can log on.

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