Thanks for commenting!

You do not work 52 x 40 hrs a year.

You need to remove holidays, anticipated sick leave etc. The biggest killer is the estimate of actual billable hours as a percentage of your work time. Shockingly low. Probably about half.

Besides the list above, there is time spent on administration, research, travel and self-education along with anything else that eats into production.

Clients do get a bit of sticker shock when you state your hourly rate, as they don’t think in those terms as most are on salary and it is taken care of for them. They also don’t see that even discussing it is eating into your earning time.

Best is not to give them an hourly rate as they have no clue as to how long anything takes. Better is to quote with clearly defined parameters, which the client will try to bust every single time. But at least you will be arguing over quantifiable things such as number of alternate designs, revisions or client changes. The last is very important as it shifts the onus back on the client to stay within bounds.

Don’t cheat yourself by pretending that those enormous hours you spent on the project don’t really count, as it was practice or a one off. That way bankruptcy lies.

Remember your landlord, utilities company or even that problem client do not discount or fudge the money they cost you.