Consulting Fees (HIGHWAY robbery)

[klsmith]

My experience is 2080 hours is the 40 X 52 figure that needs to be trimmed to 
1800.

Now take out about half of that to attend to your accounting, sales (no money 
made for presentations and meeting prospective customers) and mending your 
own network and finally honing those new skills. 

Now a $60,000 worker  does not have travel time on his time several times a 
day.  He does not keep a track of his income and expenses and do all the 
accounting required for a business.

On the budget side you need to add $2000 or $3000 for a yellow pages add, 
connectivity
cell phone
attorney's fees
accountant
mileage on your car
office space
equipment,

ETC, ETC.

$60,000
    6,000  10% for unemployment SSE ETC
    6000  401 with matching
  12,000  for office space, phone, lights, air.....
    5000  milage on your car
     3000  training.....


Shall I go on?  We are at $92,000.  If I can bill 4 hours a day for 220 days 
a year that is 880 hours a year of billing.  92,000 / 880 = $104.55 an hour. 
just to make $60,000 a year with much more headaches!  And I forgot the 
$4,000 to $6,000 a year you will spend on equipment, and advertising costs.

Now what is your risk worth?  What about your return on your investment?  Are 
you in business to make a profit or because you like the lifestyle?

Don't forgit you need to know a lot more because you just became a one man 
band!

Keith

PS you are right, $100 an hour is HIGHWAY robbery.  They are robbing from 
you.  It is still too low!

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Message: 8
Date: Tue, 05 Mar 2002 08:07:23 -0700
From: "Derek A. Neighbors" <derek@gnue.org>
To: plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
Subject: Re: Consulting Fees
Reply-To: plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us

Just in case no one has done the math

60,000 / 2080 (hours) = 28.85

Now of course there are things like a normal employers benefits (and 
their tax contribution to factor in)  So say you figure in 10,000 for 
benefits and lump 10% for tax contribution and you are at 77,000 a year 
add another 10% for office supplies space etc... and you are at 84,000.

The other way is when you hire someone you figure 30% of salary will be 
needed so if the salary is 60,000 72,000 would be the outcome so the 
above of 84,000 is pretty high.

84,000 / 2080 (hours) = 40.38

So I am curious to those that give consultants a bad name buy wanting 
100 plus an hour.  Do you really think that 60,000 is paltry salary, or 
do you expect companies to burden your time without work?

Based on these numbers anything more than 80 an hour is HIGHWAY robbery. 
 As you would only be working half a year to earn 60,000 or if working a 
full year making 120,000 with full benefits etc included in the 
calculation.  I just ask that you re-evaluate bagging on 'the microsoft 
tax' if you are charging more than 80 an hour and ask are you charging 
'the consultant tax'?

;)

-Derek

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