Having six months of expenses saved up to be a most excellent idea. Even if you have a steady job it's peace of mind that helps you sleep at night. jason On 5/9/07, Randy Clarksean <rclark at lakesplus.com> wrote: > > > 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 > > > _______________________________________________ > TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota > tclug-list at mn-linux.org > http://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mailman.mn-linux.org/pipermail/tclug-list/attachments/20070509/bd5ddbe6/attachment.htm