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> A rule of thumb I've found that can be accurate is you should/can charge about $10/hr for every year of experience you have, and should be working for clients
by rmcastil 12y ago
> A rule of thumb I've found that can be accurate is you should/can charge about $10/hr for every year of experience you have, and should be working for clients or employers that see value in paying for that kind of experience.
This seems REALLY conservative IMO. If I went with this model when I started consulting I would have quickly gone out of business. Have you had clients that ever said your rates were too high?
- j45 12y agoSome clarifications: We're talking about consulting, technology consulting, and not neccesarily programming type consulting. I should have said charged at least $10 for every year of expertise you have. In the first few years it may very well be higher. My first client was about $50/hr in the late 90's. I had about 5 years of experience when I made the switch from employee to contractor. It's really about a mutual conversation of value. If you're fast and good at what you do, you should be able to go in fixed price. Hourly rates are never in anyone's best interests long term. The better you get the quicker you are and the less you can make at any high rate. Clients say my rate is too high all the time. Then they hire someone to do it cheaper, take 3 times as long, and end up with something they can't grow in the direction they wanted, at which point they realize it wasn't programming they were hiring, but rather a process and a guide for the process. A bigger thing here is to pay attention to gaining consulting clients who have a budget that does not consist of their own personal money, or money they have directly earned in their own small business as it gets the type of comments that rates are high. Businesses who are making money understand value and need it done well, right, for a fair price.