I just submitted a quote to a client for some work they want done. They didn’t like the numbers, though. Too high. Now they’re talking about having someone in-house do the work “because it’s free.”
Staff time isn’t free. It just might look free, depending on where you sit. If a different budget pays the salaries it’s easy to forget that staff have an hourly cost just like a consultant. Those costs are covered already, though, so it isn’t an additional expense, and therefore “free.” I might be able to complete something in two hours where in-house staff would take twenty, but I’m an additional expense.
*sigh*