Great copy abounds on making it as an independent contractor.
Andréa Coutu is the founder of ConsultantJournal.com and a blogger about how to achieve success as an independent consultant. I discovered her on the Metafilter site, specifically through the "freelance" tag on AskMeFi.
The single-most (personally observed) sought-after information by independent consultants is the answer to the question, How do I set independent consultant rates and fees? Andréa presents the nitty-gritty of consulting fee models and strategies for setting fees, and in doing so, creates a broad view of your business:
- the realistic number of billable hours you have in a year
- why you should consider bad debt into your rate and fee
- the overhead you pay
- a reasonable profit margin to expect in exchange for your business risk
Then she links you to Finance for Consultants to round out the view of your responsibilities as a business owner.
Read Andréa’s article on Setting Consulting Fees here.
Write on and be well.
Rita Braun writes and edits B2B publications for people who research, teach, market, and sell. Take a look at her portfolio here, and contact her here.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey, thanks for the multiple mentions. I hadn’t checked out your site before, but I’m glad I found it.
Actually, wait. I have been here before. I just haven’t been back for a while…you have a lot more content now. :)
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment, Andrea. I’ve referred a bunch of folks to your site. It offers independent contractors great specificity for running a biz. Every time I see a How Much Should I Charge? question, I reference your article. I’ve seen one other article like it, but it was hidden in a journal that was hidden behind an annual subscription.
Well, thank you. I appreciate the referrals. Yeah, most articles on consulting skip how to actually come up with a rate.
Agreed. Many advise finding what the going rate is in a particular area. If you’re not connected to a writing group, that’s hard. Even if you are connected, most keep mum on rates! Jennifer Mattern at All Freelance Writing wrote a good post on this, too. Good to hear from you again, Andrea.