W Christian Consulting

What could you be doing better?

What’s your time really cost?

Billing Rate Worksheet

Billing Rate Worksheet

In the words of Charles Dickens, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, … it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us.”  In these uncertain times, are you thinking about taking control of your destiny and striking out on your own?   Are you sure you can do the job but not quite sure how much your time is worth?

I was working with a client whose problem was just that.  My client had worked for others in the industry and knew the range of billing rates but as a startup wasn’t sure how to justify a rate that was comfortably in the middle.  After all, they had big offices and fancy letterhead and staff and expense accounts.  The only expense my client was thinking of covering was a personal salary and that barely warranted $50 per hour.*

I assigned the task of thinking of other expenses for homework and my client came up with some but missed some very significant and expensive ones.  Then, I worked up a quick spreadsheet to show my client how much time on a project really cost.  Those small or one-time costs can add up.  Once we looked at some expense estimates, the cost of an hour of work nearly tripled!  And that was after lowering my client’s personal salary.

Wondering what your time really costs?  I cleaned up and expanded the spreadsheet.  You can download a copy for yourself.

Are you thinking about a business and not sure what it’s going to cost you?  Get in touch with me today.

* I had to change some of the details to protect my client’s privacy.