I own a design/development studio and encourage my employees to do side work if they want to, in order to get some experience in areas they don't normally dabble in. Examples are estimating, invoicing, figuring out tough problems all on their own (and being on the hook for the solutions), etc. I think it's awesome.
But I always tell them to bill hourly. I do NOT want them to make the same mistakes that I did when I got started. Working late into the night for free is never a fun feeling.
I own a design/development studio and encourage my employees to do side work if they want to, in order to get some experience in areas they don't normally dabble in. Examples are estimating, invoicing, figuring out tough problems all on their own (and being on the hook for the solutions), etc. I think it's awesome.
But I always tell them to bill hourly. I do NOT want them to make the same mistakes that I did when I got started. Working late into the night for free is never a fun feeling.