2 Responses

1. Hope this helps!
   This is a tough question for any new consultant / trainer and its made more so by the fact that you are looking at a 1 hour course.

   You could ask around your local business link and learning skills councils to find what the local rates/ expectations are.

   Here in the Merseyside region the ‘going’ daily rate is anything between £250 to £600 per day dependant on the type of work you are doing and of course, who the client is.

   Talking to fellow freelancers the average hourly rate is about £50 but you would need to add on for any learning materials etc. that you might incur. Additionally, I would also add on development time costs if you have spent time developing material for the sessions – this should be included in your charging considerations.

2. Are they open to persuasion?
   Hi Richard

   You could tell them that you have a minimum charge of half a day (so, half your normal daily rate) and that if they choose only to use one hour of that time, that’s their loss! I think it was Winston Churchill who said that a two hour speech would take him ten mins to prepare, whilst a ten minute speech would take two hours. Try quoting this to explain that you’ll need lots more prep time than usual to cram in the basic in just one hour. How about doing a series of hour long sessions across the entire morning or day? That way they get their money’s worth and you get the money.

   Of course, they may be a small business so don’t have the numbers. I do very occasionally work for our local college on a specialised course and they pay me the grand sum of £60 for an hour’s session! It’s easy money now, though, as I’ve run the same session many times, but I felt it was far too little the first time. How about going for £100?

   Good luck.

   Jenny James