Greeting my ogas and madams at the top in the IT labour market, I have really thought of this am about to let out countless number of times and have also had some difficulties dealing with it. Am currently a computer science student studying for my Higher National Diploma in Yaba College of Technology (Yabatech), but am also a freelancer that specializes on PC maintenance, troubleshooting and upgrade and also small to medium scale office and cybercafe networking, which I do once in a while to make small money for up keep.

The issue am having which I think am not alone in is the aspect of billing, and am sure there are persons here on Nairaland who are already into this and have wealth of experience in this area of freelancing. Though, I have read some articles on how to bill clients for IT services, but the responds are usually from our ‘Oyibo’ counterparts who operates where there are already established laws that guide and save guide their practices, and I feel their billing system or pattern might not be applicable in our own context.

So my questions are:
as an IT person, how much should I charge for networking an office with maybe 5 PCs or more and some printers and other devices that can be shared on the network?
How much can one charge for setting up PCs in an already networked environment with dedicated software and stuffs like that, that could be used for international exams and/or training?
Is it ideal for me to drop the idea of working as an employee and startup on my own with my wealth of IT experience? If yes, which kind of training or workshop are essential for my survival in the IT labour market?

Thanks in anticipation as I await positive response from my bosses and madams in the field. Also moderators, I will be very grateful if you can help me and persons with similar issues to push this post to front-page for quicker response.

Very interesting questions