irwingonzo

Well, this is all empirical but the main thing I take into account is Time. Like, if there is any new tech I need to learn, usually it's added into how much time I would spend building the app itself. Then I dig into the complexity of the app. I accumulate these in points and put into a scale of my hourly rate. For example, the highest I charged anyone for a very difficult project is 150/hr which I rate at a 10, the lowest for a simple project is 85/hr.

I add the factors together and see where it rates out of 10 then make the final price per hour.

I like being straight forward, so I use Trello for task management, Github for version control & Slack for communication between me & the client.

Hope this helps!!!

I'm sorry to see that you might be in quite a tough situation... I'm assuming that you are proficient in software engineering. That being said, if I were to place myself in your shoes, I would use that skill set as an independent contractor. Pick up as many deals, local or over seas to earn and save money that way. When you have established enough clean work with clients who will be willing to provide a good referral thats when you can try to apply for some of the bigger tech companies. I know a few people who have also taken this route and it has worked for them! Best of luck!