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
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