As I noted last time, lazy consultants can make more, simply by changing the words they use to describe their work. You might be thinking that some clients are sure to walk away if you raise your fees. Well, some clients may be put off by your higher fees. But even if some of your clients leave, you can still make more money.
How you can make more even if you lose work
Let’s say you’ve been happily billing 20 hours a week, for a total of 80 billable hours per month. You’ve been charging yourself out at $35 an hour. So you make about $2,800 a month.
You decide to raise your consulting fees to $50 an hour. As a result of your decision, some of your clients leave and you’re now working 80% as many hours as you were before.
Guess what? You’d still be earning $3,200 a month! That’s 14% more than you were before. And, if you go out and find a few new clients, so that you’re billing as much as you were before, you could make $4,000 a month.
A big jump in fees can deliver big results
But what if you already make $75 an hour and you bill 20 hours a week, for $6,000 a month? How much could you make per month if you raised your fee to $125 an hour and worked 2/3 as much?
You’d be making $6,600 a month, from working a little more than 13 hours a week. If you found a couple new clients and brought your workload up to 15 hours a week — that’s still down from working 20 hours a week — you’d make $7,500 a month.
So, if you’ve been avoiding raising your fees because you’re scared of losing a few clients, you may want to rethink your strategy. In an upcoming post, I’ll discuss ways to manage your client base, so that you’re protected from finicky clients.
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