If you think you need 15 to achieve parity with the old salary, shoot for 30 (as a starting point). Your costs are systematically higher than an employee's, yo

If you think you need 15 to achieve parity with the old salary, shoot for 30 (as a starting point). Your costs are systematically higher than an employee's, you'll have to pay taxes which were previously not disclosed to you as part of your income, you'll have to buy your own benefits, etc. With regards to marketing to parents: in a similar situation, my strategy was to position the business as an extended job application to Google ("They basically won't take somebody these days who hasn't demonstrated above-and-beyond capabilities on the Internet") and continue doing so until mom and dad thought the Google idea was stupid when it was obvious that I'd make more money with the bingo thing. Also, try not to let this dominate your relationship with your parents, because their intersection with your professional choices is a very, very small part of life and they are, after all, your parents. No shame in not liking the office life. It's virtually a cliche among my entrepreneur friends: we do this because we're totally useless for 9-to-5 at BigCo. It may be salutary to broaden your social circle to include some folks who either share your aspirations or resemble the people you want to be like in the future.