7 ms·
Hahaha.. Triple? Really?
by amolo 7y ago
Hahaha..
Triple? Really?
- exdsq 7y agoYeah this is what I've read/heard too. I went 2.5x but I probably could have gone higher when I personally did this. If you sell yourself based on the problem you're solving and not hours worked you can charge a lot more than you'd assume.
- gk1 7y agoThis is the kind of mentality you must shake off if you want to succeed in consulting. $200 is not even a rounding error to most companies, and you expect to get paid less than that for solving their biggest problems?
- davimack 7y agoDouble your rate for each new client until you can't go higher and get work. Then back off in reasonable increments until you have just enough work to be happy. I work in biotech. Companies don't blink at anything. $3,000 / day? Yup. No problem. Money doesn't mean anything to a company where the entry price is 15 years of infrastructure build and raw materials that run in the millions if not billions. If it does, you have a braindead manager, so move on.
- gk1 7y agoA helpful thing to remember is that large companies spend thousands of dollars a day just on printer paper.
- bufferoverflow 7y agoHow do you find such clients? I don't mean your particular channels, just the general idea.
- weka 7y agoIsn't there a story about how a certain wine nobody bought but once they jacked up the price, its perceived value was higher and people thought it tasted better and it sold more?
- jammygit 7y agoI am a recent grad, talented I like to imagine, with an opportunity to do some consulting. If I know I can make X/hr elsewhere fulltime, is the 2.5-3x consulting/contracting rate still applicable, or does that apply to senior developers?
- alexhutcheson 7y agoRegardless of level, you have to charge 2.5-3x to make up for the additional taxes you're paying, the benefits (health insurance, etc) you now have to pay full price for, and the inevitable gaps between contracts where you won't be making any money. Whether that bill rate is attainable varies depending on your skills, market, etc., but if you can't get that rate, then you're probably financially better off at the hypothetical fulltime job.
- chasd00 7y agokeep in mind, healthcare, taxes, and retirement costs are going to skyrocket. Uncle Sam hates it when you're not under the thumb of an employer. Only about a third of your hourly rate may actually make it to your checking account.
- eropple 7y agoFWIW, my experience is closer to 55%, in a fairly high-tax state to boot. It can be difficult, but it's not that bad.
- sneak 7y agoDepends on what else you need to service your clients. Some types of consulting require flights, hotels, dinners, equipment, et c.
- eropple 7y agoI never had travel or meals I didn't bill to a client, no. Negotiate better. ;)
- sneak 7y agoI work with small companies. Some clients prefer a simple bill and clear mental model of the costs. I make (slightly) more money on the bills in which I don’t break out my expenses than the ones that I do.
- phonebanshee 7y agoHealth insurance is a problem. Solve it before you move to contracting. Taxes, on the other hand, are completely skewed in favor of consulting. Look at 401k contributions, for example. The limit for your contribution is the same, but your company can contribute a lot more on top of that. And talk to your accountant about how you decide on your salary; that's an important number and it's not straightforward to decide what it is. (It's certainly not your entire income)
- HillRat 7y agoIt’s actually a reasonable estimate of salary + benefits + operating costs, adjusted to cover non-billable hours, with a small profit on top. I’d want a more formal cost accounting model, but as a rule of thumb it’s pretty solid. People cost a lot more than their salary.