> They are a medium level of SOL if I just walk and don't give them work/help The business is not your friend. The business is not your lover. The business doe

> They are a medium level of SOL if I just walk and don't give them work/help The business is not your friend. The business is not your lover. The business does not love you, the business is a business. Yeah, they're SOL if you just walk. But they'd be just as SOL if you died / were fired. Don't 'do them a favor' if they wouldn't do the same favor for you. > I don't want to leverage that at all, or at least minimize them feeling like I am squeezing them for all they are worth. The company doesn't love you. It's a business relationship, not making a website for your dad's war buddy. This is a job to put food on your table, not a quick project for a buddy. They don't love you. You are doing them no ill by 'squeezing' them for all you're worth. >Does anyone have some pointers here on how to go about this? Both keeping things as amiable as possible and maximizing my rate. Let's break this down. You want to keep things amiable as possible, but remember that this is business, not a relationship. This isn't negotiating who gets the kitten with your ex, this is negotiating how much food you get to put on your table with a company. Again, they don't love you. > Maximizing my rate Well, how much do you need to earn, eof? That figure sets the baseline for whatever you ask for, so figure out that baseline. How much would you need to take in each month to cover all of your expenses (food, rent, insurance, development, savings, taxes)? That's the minimum you need to ask for. How much do they pay employees in the industry? You were earning $70k after 6-moths, so we're looking at a per-hour / per-project equivalent to that. How much would they pay the freelancer that will fill your shoes if you just walked? That's a lot of questions from me to you - sorry! - but it's questions that need to be answered for you to figure this thing out. You're quitting so you have free time and have a lot of work on the side. If one of your other clients came to you with this exact same project, how much would you charge them? Charge your current employer no less than that. You're quitting so you have the time and mental space to focus on what you want to do. Don't put yourself at a lower rate because you 'owe' the company something. You owe them nothing. The company doesn't love you. If it ever was more cost effective for them to replace you with a bobble head, they would do it in an instant. tl;dr: • Figure out how much you need to live the life you want to live • How much would you charge Joe X for this same work? • Don't settle for less than that and don't be afraid to walk away if they won't pay what you'd earn elsewhere. The company doesn't love you.