Freelance contracting

Subject: Freelance contracting
From: Paul Trummel <trummel -at- U -dot- WASHINGTON -dot- EDU>
Date: Fri, 10 Sep 1993 09:44:43 -0700

A good rule of thumb (after all an honest miller hath a golden thumb) for
calculating hourly consulting or contracting rates that has proven itself
statistically to me for many years:

Take the hourly rate of the staff person that does similar work for
the client and multiply it by 3 to obtain the contracting rate per hour.
Charge out-of-pocket expenses and production costs extra. The 66% uplift
covers the fringe benefits, vacation time, down time, etc., that would accrue
to a staff person, plus a small entrepreneural profit (10% net). Charging
any less not only disadvantages the individual contractor but reduces the
"going rate" for other contractors. It also encourages employers to use
contractors instead of regular personnel in an attempt to avoid incurring
overhead costs. If employed for less than one week then contractors should
charge travel time extra.

Don't prejudice yourselves or the profession by charging too little.
Remuneration for professional work should meet professional criteria.


On Thu, 9 Sep 1993, Liz Babcock wrote:

> Mail*Link(r) SMTP FWD>Freelance contracting
> In response to an 8 Sept request from Kathleen Nosbisch for further info on
> freelance contracting, Len Olszewski suggests,

> >You should check out the STC salary survey - they may list some regional
> freelance rates.

> I assume Len means the STC Special Report, Profile 92, which was enclosed in
> the April 1992 issue of STC's member newsletter, Intercom. One page in this
> report does address the average hourly rate for consultants and independent
> contractors. However, these rates are not listed by region (and they're a bit
> on the old side, as well as representative only of rates charged by STC
> members).

> Here's what that page shows: 8% of those surveyed charged less that $20, 22%
> charged $20-29, 31% charged $30-39, 20% charged $40-49, 11% charged $50-59, 7%
> charged more than $60, and 1% had no set fee.

> kat, if I were you, I'd use this information with several dashes of salt,
since
> the rates are old and also likely to vary greatly from region to region. A
more
> helpful strategy, I think, for anyone contemplating going into freelance
> contracting would be to join STC's Professional Interest Committee on
> Consulting and Independent Contracting (familiarly known as C&IC PIC). There's
> no charge for STC members to join this active and rapidly growing group. If
> you'd like further information on the C&IC PIC, here's the person to contact:

> Charley McWha
> CMC Consulting
> 27 Kings Road
> Morgantown, WV 26505-8935
> ph: (304) 624-6486

> I realize that joining the C&IC PIC won't help you with the job you've
probably
> already signed on to do, but as a longer-term strategy, it can't be beat.


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