I'm up front about bringing in other people when needed, and typically have one separate bill rate for those people, and it's disclosed up front before the project starts. I don't try to pass people off as my own employees - I simply indicate I have professional colleagues in my network that I collaborate with, depending on the project's needs. Most people seem to understand that, and I've never had an issue so far.<p>I've occasionally submitted to being subcontracted out under someone else's company name, and it's ended poorly about 80% of the time, due to misunderstandings about communication between all parties involved.<p>I typically charge per hour with a base estimate up front that spells out the understandings. If the understandings change, more work is done and more hours are used, but I let the client know, and they make the final decision as to whether or not to have me/us do the extra work.
Per project or per hour depends on the client.<p>They often have a preference; in large companies, they may be able to get a "per project" budget approved, but not a per hour budget - so be it. You have to be a little flexible.<p>What I used to do when I contracted was to estimate the amount of time needed, and then say X weeks * Y$/hr = total Z$ project cost.<p>You learn to pad that, depending on the client, to calculate in "unexpected" costs. ie. for a difficult/inexperienced/unknown client, I would double the estimated hours.<p>Both as a contractor and a client, if there is some trust in the relationship, I much prefer per-hour based jobs. But it's not always possible.<p>If you bring in other people, don't hide it. There's no need to.
Personally, I charge per project and am extremely transparent about every single person who I bring into the project. However, I'm not very successful so you may want to do the opposite...:)<p>Good luck consulting!!
I use "we" and bring in people as needed for skills that I don't have in high enough levels<p>I explain THAT I do this all, but not exactly when for many clients