If you work on projects 50% of the time you will be doing good as a consultant ... if you are doing job shop type work (warm body for hire) that is different as you end up with long term jobs that way and are not really consulting ... In general ... assuming 40-50% billable time is reasonable - once you get up and going. They also say to have 6 months salary sitting in the bank if you are to start on your own as the startup time can be lean. Just my thoughts ... as someone who has been an independent consultant and works for a firm that does strictly consulting everyday. Randy On Thu, 2007-05-03 at 10:06 -0500, Steven White wrote: > I don't do consulting but I wondered once how much I would have to > charge if I did. > > I went to my employer's HR department and asked them for everything > they contributed for me to various places. That included FICA, > Medicare, pension, life insurance, long-term disability, their share > of medical insurance, dental insurance, etc.. I added that to my > salary to come up with the amount of money I would have to get to have > the same income I have as an employee (because I would have to pay my > own FICA, life insurance, long-term disability, etc.). > > Then I tried to figure out how many days in a year I would actually > work. The 52 weeks times five days per week has to have subtracted > from it holidays, vacations, and maybe a little sick leave. > > Then I took the advice of the consulting books to realize that I would > not work eight hours every day. In fact, considering overhead, > travel, education, and so on, I might average only six hours of time > each day that I could in good conscience bill for. > > Finally, I divided dollars by hours to get an hourly figure. I think > that at the time is was around $52. > > Steven White > City of Bloomington > 1800 W Old Shakopee Rd > Bloomington MN 55431-3096 > USA > 952-563-4882 (voice) > 952-563-4672 (fax) > steven.white at ci.bloomington.mn.us > > >>> Wayne Johnson <wdtj at yahoo.com> 4/4/2007 9:58 AM >>> > What I did was take what I was making as a full time developer, add in > 7.5% for the self employment taxes, Another 6% for vacation/sick and > then a fixed monthly charge for insurance, etc if you need to. Then > split this all up to an hourly charge. > > Remember that there is always down time between contracts, so short > term contracts need to charge more for the between the gaps overhead. > > I was charging $72/hr for short term and $60 long term YMMV. > > At one point I was working for a contract house (at $30/hr + benefits) > and I later found out the contract house was charging the client > $75/hr. They were making a VERY nice profit on my labor. > > Dave Dash <dave.dash at gmail.com> wrote: > I've seen people charge anywhere from $25-100/hr for various > computer related consulting. Unfortunately nobody likes to > share how much they charge as it tends to be a not for public > consumption. > > If I weren't already doing some consulting (albeit on the > side), I'd pick a number between $25-100 that is more than > what I'd be making at a similar full time or even contract gig > (and you can call recruiters to find those out). Then just > keep to that. But really the rate doesn't matter so much as > the quality of service.... of course, I'm not the small > business owner cutting you the check, so what do I know. > > -d > > On 4/3/07, Florin Iucha <florin at iucha.net> wrote: > Guys, > > What are some good resources on consulting rates? I'm > talking to a > small business owner about Linux support and > consulting for their shop. > Mainly remote troubleshooting, with bulk work during > weekends, if > need be. > > Thanks, > florin > > -- > Bruce Schneier expects the Spanish Inquisition. > http://geekz.co.uk/schneierfacts/fact/163 > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- > Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (GNU/Linux) > > iD8DBQFGEuYSND0rFCN2b1sRAplnAJ9bMKpb2z3sPN3Fw9e24I3MtIDvjgCfRyRK > 9x3n3Dw3htIu2xdcEH0QFKc= > =qWUK > -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- > > _______________________________________________ > TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota > tclug-list at mn-linux.org > http://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list > > > > > -- > Dave Dash > 612.670.0621 > Discover your favorite restaurant: reviewsby.us > gtalk: dave.dash > _______________________________________________ > TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota > tclug-list at mn-linux.org > http://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list > > > > --- > Wayne Johnson, | There are two kinds of people: Those > 3943 Penn Ave. N. | who say to God, "Thy will be done," > Minneapolis, MN 55412-1908 | and those to whom God says, "All right, > (612) 522-7003 | then, have it your way." --C.S. Lewis > > > > ______________________________________________________________________ > 8:00? 8:25? 8:40? Find a flick in no time > with theYahoo! Search movie showtime shortcut. > _______________________________________________ > TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota > tclug-list at mn-linux.org > http://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list