Its obvious that some of us want look at consultation as a hobby (or part 
time job) and charge what we make in salary or nothing at all.  That is 
fine, and you can get some quality consultation through a consultant like 
that.  Others of us look at it like a business and charge more to make sure 
we can weather storms, stay in business, and grow.  Personally, I am on the 
business side.  If I do not charge enough, not only am I affected, my 
employees could also loose their jobs.

What matters is that a consultant does the job right and that the customer 
is satisfied and happy with the work done.  You can find consultants that 
do a poor job that charge $30/hr or $300/hr and the opposite is true as 
well.  I know if I am helping my neighbor setup a home network, I do it for 
free in my spare time while sharing some beers (neighbor provided of 
course).  If a customer needs help, I send a technician out as soon as I 
can, do the work professionally, and charge enough to keep the business 
going which is about 3 + times what I pay the technician.

Nobody is perfect.  Lets hear it for Kombya!

Gilbert T. Gutierrez, Jr.

At 11:55 AM 3/5/2002 -0600, Derek wrote:

>Well I was a 'high paid' consultant at one time and stopped because I felt
>it unethical.  I developed proprietary software at one time and stopped
>because I felt unethical.  Now I consultant often for free to non-profits,
>schools and small business and work as a salaried employee for which I
>used to consult.
>
>-Derek