Consulting fees must be set in order to sustain your business.  When you start off as a moonlighter it is tempting to charge low consulting fees in order to build up a client base.  The problem with this strategy is that when you want to transition to full time consulting, your consulting fees must be high enough to cover all the added expenses that go along with running a full time business.

To make this transition you must get the recurring revenue and charge market rates that are sustainable for the long haul. Your full time competitors have already figured out the consulting fees they need to charge to cover their overhead items that as a moonlighter you are probably overlooking. Items like:

  • taxes
  • training expenses
  • insurance costs
  • marketing and promotion
  • research
  • administration
To cover these basic expenses you won’t be able to charge bargain basement consulting fees.     If you’re thinking you can go out there and be the Crazy Eddie of computer support and charge consulting fees of $25, $35, $45 an hour you’re not going to make it up on volume. There are only so many hours you can work in a week, even on a full time basis.

Bottom Line on Consulting Fees
If you want to be able to survive and you want to be able to make the transition from part time to full time consulting, it’s very important that you copy the right people when it comes to your consulting fees.  You do not want to be the cheapest in your market because you won’t be able to sustain those low consulting fees for long.  Start out right and set your consulting fees at the higher end.  This prepares you to make the leap to full time and  paves the way for long term business health.   

In this article, you’ve been introduced to Consulting Fees. To learn more about how you can improve your knowledge about Consulting Fees, just click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.