Ariel Banos, expert in pricing strategy, presents in this article a key aspect to consider when quoting proposals for professional services.
"... In his book "Pricing Creativity", Blair Enns exemplifies the big differences there can be in the price of professional work, using the cases of some famous logos.
In 1971, in the early days of his company, Nike CEO Phil Knight paid a design student named Carolyn Davidson the sum of US$ 35 (about US$ 200 at today's values) to create the "swoosh" logo. We are talking about the mythical logo that still identifies the Nike brand today.
The competitive advantage of low costs of Central American companies and the possibility of making strategic alliances in Mexico and the U.S., are some of the opportunities that architectural services companies could take advantage of.
For the internationalization of this type of service, companies in the sector recognize some challenges and barriers such as the lack of information on internationalization of services, lack of knowledge on how to reach international clients, differences in design codes and applicable laws, and regulatory difficulties to internationalize plans, highlights an analysis prepared by the Costa Rican Foreign Trade Promoter (Procomer).
In Central America, nearly 5 million people are looking to purchase home services online, and 8% of these consumers are exploring options for contracting residential cleaning services.
The interactive information system developed by CentralAmericaData, monitors in real time the changes in consumer habits in all markets of the region, with fundamental information to understand the new commercial environment that has emerged in an accelerated manner.
The Central Bank tenders professional services to issue an opinion on the reasonableness of the institution's financial statements.
Honduras Government Purchase CPrivado No.01-2020:
"Hiring of an external audit firm, duly registered in the Registry of External Auditors (RAE) of the National Commission of Banks and Insurance Companies (CNBS), to issue an opinion on the reasonability of the Financial Statements of the Central Bank of Honduras (BCH) with figures as of December 31, 2020, compared to those corresponding to December 31, 2019.
The National Electric Power Company is tendering the study of soil mechanics in Guanaja and Brus Laguna, sites where the institution will install a generation system with renewable energy through micro networks.
Honduras Government Purchase PERLA-6-SBMC-CF-:
"The Soil Mechanics Study Reports that the consultant will present, must contain the results of the analyses to determine:
The National Forecasting Institute of the Magisterium of Honduras tenders the services of an external Audit Firm to evaluate its Financial Statements for the year 2019.
Honduras Government Purchase SC-001-2019:
"The purpose of this public tender is to contract the services of an external auditing firm, properly accredited in the country and registered in the Register of External Auditors (RAE) of the National Commission of Banks and Insurance (CNBS), to: 1) Conduct an external audit and obtain a professional and independent opinion, according to the financial report corresponding to the period from January 1 to December 31, 2019 of Regime I.V.M. in compliance with the legal regulatory framework of the National Banking and Insurance Commission (CNBS) and International Standards on Auditing (ISAs) and where IFRS apply.
The Instituto Costarricense de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (Costa Rican Institute of Aqueducts and Sewers) will contract a consulting firm to carry out the studies of the projects of the sanitation program in priority areas of Gran Puntarenas, Tamarindo and El Coco-Sardinal.
Costa Rica Government Purchase 2019LI-000001-PRI:
"This contract covers the first third of the project's life cycle (pre-investment), i.e.
The Central Bank of Honduras tenders the logistics service for the development of field work of the 2019-2020 National Household Expenditure Survey, for a 22-month period.
Honduras Government Purchase LPública No.08-2019:
"The objective is to contract the services of a company that provides the BCH with business services and professional logistic and management services for the development of management activities for the execution of the field work of ENIGH 2019-2020, including the services of the staff that will carry out the work of cartographic updating, the collection of basic information in a pilot survey and the final collection of the survey, administrative support, file management, air, land and special mobilization logistics that includes the geographical areas covered by ENIGH, as well as providing an operations center duly conditioned for ENIGH strategic personnel, which allows achieving high standards of quality and control in the information collected.
The Central Bank of Honduras tenders information and news monitoring services at the national level, for a 24-month term.
Honduras Government Purchase LPública No.03-2019:
"Hiring of information and news monitoring services at the national level, related to the Central Bank of Honduras and the country's economic environment, which are transmitted in the different media, for a twenty-four (24) month period from the signing of the contract.
After investing $22 million, the American Startek inaugurated in Tegucigalpa the Altia Technology Park tower, from where services will be provided to large companies globally.
Representatives of the company informed that the new eight-floor business tower will house 2,500 workers and took the opportunity to announce that they plan to build one more tower in Tegucigalpa and another in San Pedro Sula.
The Central Bank of Honduras is putting out to tender license support and product update services with the SAP manufacturer and its respective technical and functional support, for a period of two years.
Government of Honduras Purchase LPública No.24-2018:
"Contract for support services for licensing and updating products with the SAP manufacturer (Enterprise Support) and acquisition of a package of two hundred (200) hours of technical and functional support for the SAP ECC 6.0 system of the BCH (including SAP ERP and SAP HCM), for a term of two (2) years from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2020.
From April 24th to 26th 150 exporters of services will be gathering together in Costa Rica with international buyers from sectors such as audiovisual, global health, information and communication technologies, education, biotechnology and green technologies.
The event is being organized by Cinde and will take place at the Real Intercontinental Hotel, where business conferences will also be held in which interested companies can participate.
The Central Bank of Honduras is putting out to tender consulting services for the design and implementation of a Business Continuity Management System.
Government of Honduras Purchase Público No.01-2018:
"The purpose of the tender is to contract a company that provides consulting services for the design and implementation of a Business Continuity Management System (BCMS) for the Central Bank of Honduras (Banco Central de Honduras or BCH) based on the international standard ISO 22301, with the objective of providing the Bank with a structure through which it can establish and maintain a Business Continuity Management System (SGCN), which allows for the development of plans to assure the BCH the continuity of its operations at a minimum acceptable level, in cases of unforeseen interruptions of critical services and operations.
Clearly identifying the direct and indirect costs is the first step forward in the process of defining how much professionals should charge for their services when practicing independently.
Ariel Baños, Economist Founder of Fijaciondeprecios.com:
How much is my job worth?
A major challenge for those who work independently or freelance is to define the price of their services. Identifying key elements to take into account is the first step.
From March 15 to 16 more than 400 local and international companies in the service sector will be holding business meetings during the OUTSOURCE2LAC business forum in San Jose, Costa Rica.
From a statement issued by PROCOMER:
San Jose, March 3, 2017.The largest gathering of service companies based on knowledge of Latin America will be meeting in San Jose, Costa Rica, on March 15 and 16.OUTSOURCE2LAC is a business conference organized by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Foreign Trade Promotion Office of Costa Rica (PROCOMER), which aims to share best practices and experiences of the sector and to promote the creation of opportunities for business and investment for SMEs in Latin America and the Caribbean.