Consulting pricing guidelines

Find out how much competitive services in your area charge. Generally, consulting firms and independant contractors have very different fee schedules, so that would have a huge impact on where to look.

Your level of experience, expertise, and ability to get the work done quickly likewise should have a tremendous impact on your rates.

Consulting firms in the Chicagoland area tend to charge $100-$250 an hour, depending on the task (desktop support, network administration, network design and project management, etc.) time of day (most charge more for after-hours and weekend work) and person (senior people charging more than junior people).

In comparison, contractors tend to charge somewhat less, from $50-$200/hour, with inexperienced coders charging closer to $50/hr and expert network engineers closer to the higher end of the range.

Hope this is helpful. Post more details about where you work and your level of experience and I might be able to offer more concrete guidelines.

My services are specifically oriented toward small business. We do a lot of small network, P2P, small Novell and NT networks. I use retail outlets and other local VARs as guides to my pricing. We work on a contract, fixed price project and an hourlybasis ($90/hr). We also offer fixed fee services for items such as desktop delivery and setup, printer setup, server setup and the like.

As an independent consultant, you could compare your rates with the big consulting firms in your area and price yourself as close to them as possible.
However, there could be times when you need the job because nothing else is on hand. I bridge those periods with short jobs for a fixed price and firm delivery date. The advantage is that you dont give away that you are undercutting your own rates. Better some money than no money. Bear in mind that the time you have not sold today can never be sold again.

Keep in mind that these days, you might be undercut by some or other remote worker somewhere else in the world.
Good luck

The problem with answering this question is that you are asking the wrong question. The question is not what are other people charging but rather - "How much value can I create for my prospect?" You create more value by creating more trust - why do you think the Big6 send teams of people in and use shiny brochures? Your best answer may be to team up with someone who does nothing but sell and market your services. The worst answer for pricing is "somewhere in the middle" - use your pricing as a statement - make it high or low - dare to be different.

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