What rates should coaches/consultants charge?

Coaches and consultants can earn a lot of money based on their experience and their reputation. The more you have of both, the higher the price you can set.

Unfortunately, many authors going into the coaching/consulting business, being unfamiliar with this line of work, never earn their true potential – or even get off the ground – because they set the wrong price.

Before establishing your rates, review what other consultants in your profession charge. Compare their skill set and experience to yours and charge accordingly. As demand for your services grows, you can raise your price.

Don’t undercut the competition in pricing that the point that you run yourself out of business, though. Estimate what your expenses will be and make sure your price is above that number. Such expenses would include not just the cost you charge per hour for actual coaching/consulting but also gas/vehicle maintenance, hotels, meals, and office supplies.

There are several ways you can set your rates:
• Hourly fees – You determine an hourly rate, and the client pays you for the number of hours you needed to coach/consult. The challenge here is finding a balance between being unaffordable (not too high) and not being taken seriously (not too low).
• Project fees – You are paid a fixed amount for a predetermined period of work time. If you go this route, you’ll probably bill your client on a monthly basis; because many companies will pay late, always require the first month’s and the last month’s payment up front to ensure you aren’t left wondering how to pay for groceries and make a mortgage payment.
• Retainer – You agree to work for a company for a set number of hours per month. If it doesn’t pay up front to retain your services, than you don’t work for them. Be forewarned that some companies don’t want you to work for competitors, so this can limit the number of retainers you can accept.

Lastly, be aware that the more you charge, the more clients will expect from you. The advantage of undercutting your competitors’ prices are that you not only bring more business but your client can’t honestly complain that others did more for them for the same amount of money.

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My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of writers both new and published. I also offer a variety of self-publishing services. During the past decade, I’ve helped more than 300 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of the 7 Minutes a Day… writing guidebooks, four nonfiction hiking guidebook series, and the literary novel Windmill. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.