How to Charge What You’re Worth

If you have spent decades building up your experience and expertise in the corporate world, the lure of the consulting world have popped into your mind at least once.

With online business opportunities providing a low-cost entry to entrepreneurship, there are many executives and senior-level professionals who want to experience more time and financial freedom through the consulting track.

But, we all know that going into business on your own is risky and we cannot overlook or underestimate the money factor…the biggest question comes around pricing the services.

• How do you put a price and market value on years and years of progressive corporate experience?
• How do you know whether clients are going to pay that price?
• How do you know if the price range you need to replace your salary is reasonable?

You see, while I don’t believe that there is a magic formula to pricing your consulting services, I do believe that there are critical questions you have to consider when deciding what to charge.

Going from an employee to a consultant means taking being very clear on who you are, who your ideal clients are, what business challenges you want to solve and what bankable value and expertise you bring to the table.

More importantly, you should be solving a specific problem that your ideal clients want solved…not what you think they should get solved.

There are five areas that immediately come to mind for me and they are good places to start when determining the price of your consulting services

1) Mindset:

• Do you get uncomfortable or nervous when quoting your fees?
• Are you justifying your fees to prospective clients?
• Are you committed to giving “realistic” fees for your services?

2) Niche Market:

• Have you clearly identified and clarified your niche market?
• Do you know your ideal client and what he/she wants resolved immediately?
• Are you staying abreast of economic, industry or technology changes impacting your niche market?

3) Competitors’ Rates

• What are other consultants offering a similar service charging?
• Do you want to offer the same services or be a trailblazer?
• Are you focused on competing primarily on price?

4) Clients’ Perceived Value

• Is your ideal client losing sleep over the problems you solve?
• Do you have one big offer or several offers to meet the clients’ needs?
• Are your ideal clients seeking you out or are you chasing them?

5) Standard Fee Structure

• Are you charging hourly, by project or by retainer?
• Do you adjust your fees according to your expertise?
• Would you increase your fees with long-term clients

There is plenty of thought, strategy and insight that goes into pricing your consulting services.

Good news, you can quickly replace your corporate salary as a new consultant when your pricing (with key branding and marketing strategies) is done right.

(Photos: Stockimages/FreeDigitalPhotos.net)