Re: Consulting Fees
*Only* 270 billable days? That's an average of 5.2 daysIf you are starting a business, you have 365 days (seven days a week) to try and get revenue coming in the door. However, assuming that your potential clients don't work holidays or weekends, you really only have 270 days that you can really do sales. Sole proprietors don't get much vacation time until they build up a revenue stream that allows for them. If you have that revenue stream and you're working for yourself, then hats off to you.
per week with no holidays or vacation. If you take out
a fairly conservative 21 days for holidays and vacations,
that's an average of more than 5.5 days per week.
Considering that most of your time that first year will be consumed drumming up business, that leaves you with considerable less than 270 days to make real money. The old freelancers credo used to be while you're working on one job, you're finalizing the next and thinking about the one after that.
What I was trying to illustrate is that doubling your salary may give you a ballpark figure for your rates (and it's often pretty close), but you are in business and you need to know how much it really costs you to be in business. If your a TW, you should have at least rudimentary knowledge of Excel or some other spreadsheet. Use that to create a pro forma of your startup costs and your longer term operating costs. It doesn't have to be fancy, just realistic. You would be amazed at how much you really have to make to continue the same lifestyle you enjoyed as a captive...assuming of course that you are making above "entry" level wages.
Al
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References:
Re: Consulting Fees: From: Fred Ridder
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