Meso,
A rate card is useful if you’re running a Rental House or if you’re a journeyman freelance crew type (i.e. cameraman, audio tech, grip and so on.)
When starting your own joint, a good place to start is to look at your state’s Department of Finance website or literature (whichever is available) to see what the standard rates for specific jobs and services are in your region. The standard rates will give you a good indicator of what your region’s market will bear. Armed with that info, you do as Grinner implied and set your rates according to your business assumptions concerning your specific overhead and expected profit levels.
Another thing you’ll have to factor in is the skill and quality level of services you’ll be providing. If you’re working with top of the line gear, software etc. you’ll need to set your prices to get all of that stuff to pay for itself in a timely manner. However, as a new house with probably little or no reputation you’re going to have to be reasonable with your initial pricing. Yeah, it would be easy to look at an established house and base your rates on theirs, but that’s not going to help you.
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