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Can I be trustworthy about one thing embarrassing? For the longest time, I believed my company expertise was about as marketable as a chocolate teapot.
I imply, what’s so particular about creating coaching supplies or managing challenge timelines? Doesn’t everybody understand how to try this stuff? (Spoiler alert: they completely don’t, they usually’ll pay severe cash for somebody who can.)
It took me means too lengthy to comprehend that whereas I used to be sitting there pondering my expertise had been abnormal, companies had been desperately trying to find individuals with precisely my background. They had been paying consultants $60+ per hour for experience I’d been utilizing each single day – and dismissing as “simply a part of the job.”
Seems, your company expertise isn’t abnormal in any respect. It’s specialised coaching that most individuals don’t have, packaged in a means that solves actual enterprise issues. You have already got what it takes to command premium freelance charges.
Additionally See: Why Mothers Make Nice Enterprise House owners
5 Company Abilities That Pay $60+ Per Hour in Freelance Work
Right here’s the factor most company mothers don’t understand: that have you assume is “simply one other day on the workplace” is definitely specialised experience that firms pays severe cash for. The abilities you’ve been utilizing to maintain your organization operating? Different companies are desperately trying to find individuals who can do precisely what you’ve been doing all alongside.
Mission Administration ($60–$75+ per hour)
Bear in mind coordinating that workplace transfer, launching the brand new worker handbook, or getting everybody aligned on the quarterly funds? That’s challenge administration consulting, and it’s probably the most in-demand freelance providers on the market.
Mission administration consultants earn a mean of $64.46 per hour in accordance with ZipRecruiter, with skilled consultants charging $75+ per hour. However right here’s what makes your company expertise so useful: you’ve already dealt with the messy, sophisticated stuff that occurs in actual companies.
You know the way to wrangle stakeholders who all need various things, handle budgets that maintain altering, and nonetheless ship outcomes on time. You’ve navigated workplace politics, handled scope creep, and discovered how one can get issues completed even when half the staff is out of workplace. That real-world expertise is value its weight in gold to small companies which might be drowning in initiatives they will’t handle themselves.
Widespread challenge administration providers you possibly can provide: software program implementations, workplace relocations, new product launches, staff restructuring, course of enhancements, and system integrations.
Coaching Improvement ($55–$85+ per hour)
When you’ve ever created worker coaching supplies, led orientation classes, or developed course of documentation, you’re already a coaching guide. The distinction is that now you possibly can cost premium charges for what you used to do as a part of your job.
Firms are consistently combating worker turnover, new software program rollouts, and groups that want upskilling. They want somebody who can take advanced data and make it digestible, create supplies that truly get used, and design coaching that sticks.
Your company background means you perceive what works and what doesn’t. You’ve seen firsthand how staff truly be taught (spoiler: it’s not by boring PowerPoints), and you know the way to create coaching that will get actual outcomes. Small companies particularly wrestle with this as a result of they don’t have devoted studying and improvement groups.
What you possibly can provide: worker onboarding packages, software program coaching supplies, compliance coaching, management improvement workshops, normal working process documentation, and expertise evaluation packages.
Course of Optimization ($50–$70+ per hour)
Each time you streamlined a workflow, automated a repetitive process, or discovered a extra environment friendly option to deal with one thing, you had been doing course of optimization consulting. The one distinction now’s that companies pays you $50–$70+ per hour to do it for them.
Right here’s why this talent is so useful: companies lose 1000’s of {dollars} yearly to inefficient processes, however most don’t know how one can repair them. They’re too near their very own operations to see the issues clearly. You, along with your contemporary eyes and company expertise, can spot inefficiencies instantly and design options that truly work.
Your company expertise taught you how one can map out workflows, establish bottlenecks, and implement modifications with out disrupting day by day operations. You perceive the human facet of course of enchancment since you’ve been the one that truly had to make use of these new methods.
Companies you possibly can present: workflow audits, normal working process creation, automation suggestions, value discount evaluation, high quality enchancment packages, and alter administration assist.
Information Evaluation & Reporting ($45–$80+ per hour)
These month-to-month experiences you created? The spreadsheets the place you tracked KPIs? The shows the place you analyzed quarterly efficiency? That’s knowledge evaluation consulting, and small companies desperately want this experience.
Most small and medium companies are drowning in knowledge however do not know what it means or what to do with it. They’re monitoring web site analytics, gross sales numbers, buyer suggestions, and operational metrics, however they will’t join the dots to make knowledgeable choices.
Your company expertise taught you how one can dig into knowledge, discover the story it’s telling, and current insights in a means that results in motion. which metrics truly matter and how one can create experiences that busy executives will truly learn and use.
What companies want: month-to-month efficiency dashboards, competitor evaluation experiences, buyer conduct evaluation, gross sales forecasting, ROI calculations, and strategic suggestions based mostly on knowledge developments.
Strategic Planning ($70–$100+ per hour)
When you’ve been concerned in funds planning, purpose setting, or strategic initiatives at your company job, you might have strategic planning expertise that’s value severe cash to rising companies.
Strategic planning is without doubt one of the highest-paid consulting providers as a result of it straight impacts an organization’s backside line. Your company background provides you one thing most freelancers lack: credibility and real-world expertise with how companies truly function.
You perceive the distinction between real looking targets and wishful pondering. You know the way to create actionable plans that account for restricted assets, competing priorities, and sudden challenges. You’ve seen what works and what doesn’t on the subject of implementing new methods.
Strategic providers you possibly can provide: annual enterprise planning, market entry methods, aggressive evaluation, purpose setting and monitoring methods, funds planning, and development technique improvement.
Methods to Place Your Company Abilities for Premium Freelance Charges
The distinction between incomes $15 per hour and $65 per hour isn’t your talent stage. It’s the way you place these expertise. Most mothers make the error of promoting duties as an alternative of options, and that’s precisely why they find yourself competing with everybody else on value.
If you promote duties, purchasers assume “anybody can do that.” If you promote options, they assume “I want somebody who can remedy my downside.” The shift in the way you speak about your providers utterly modifications what purchasers are keen to pay.
Cease Promoting Duties, Begin Promoting Enterprise Options
Right here’s the place most company mothers go improper: they describe what they’ll do as an alternative of the outcomes they’ll ship. This makes purchasers give attention to the method fairly than the end result, which at all times results in value procuring.
As an alternative of claiming this:
- “I create coaching supplies”
- “I handle initiatives”
- “I analyze knowledge”
- “I write procedures”
- “I set up workflows”
Say this as an alternative:
- “I design worker onboarding methods that scale back time-to-productivity by 40% and minimize coaching prices”
- “I implement course of enhancements that save firms a mean of $50,000 yearly by operational effectivity”
- “I present actionable enterprise insights that assist firms make worthwhile choices and establish new income alternatives”
- “I create normal working procedures that eradicate expensive errors and guarantee constant high quality”
- “I optimize enterprise workflows that unlock 15+ hours of workers time weekly for revenue-generating actions”
See the distinction? The primary checklist appears like job duties. The second checklist appears like enterprise transformation. Purchasers pay premium charges for transformation, not process completion.
Package deal Your Companies for Larger Worth
As an alternative of charging hourly for particular person duties, create complete service packages that remedy full enterprise issues. This shifts the dialog from “how a lot per hour” to “what’s this value to my enterprise.”
Listed below are some package deal examples that command premium charges:
New Worker Onboarding System ($2,500–$3,500) Full package deal consists of: present course of audit, effectivity hole evaluation, streamlined onboarding workflow design, coaching materials creation, supervisor steering paperwork, 30-day implementation plan, and success metrics monitoring. Purchasers pay for an entire resolution that solves their hiring chaos, not simply coaching supplies.
Course of Optimization Evaluation ($1,800–$2,800) Full package deal consists of: workflow evaluation throughout 3–5 key enterprise processes, bottleneck identification, effectivity suggestions, cost-savings projections, implementation roadmap with timelines, and follow-up session. You’re promoting operational transformation, not simply recommendations.
Month-to-month Strategic Planning Package deal ($950–$1,500/month) Ongoing package deal consists of: month-to-month efficiency evaluate, aggressive evaluation updates, purpose monitoring and adjustment, quarterly technique classes, market alternative identification, and strategic suggestions report. This positions you as their strategic companion, not only a guide they name sometimes.
If you package deal providers this fashion, purchasers cease evaluating your hourly fee to different freelancers and begin evaluating the full worth you deliver to their enterprise.
Use Language That Justifies Premium Pricing
Company purchasers reply to ROI-focused language as a result of that’s how they consider enterprise investments. Each greenback they spend must generate extra {dollars} in return, so body your providers by way of monetary affect.
As an alternative of feature-focused descriptions: “I’ll create a challenge administration system to your staff”
Use benefit-focused language: “I’ll implement a challenge administration system that will increase your staff’s challenge completion fee by 25% and reduces deadline overruns by 60%, defending your shopper relationships and income”
Embrace particular metrics each time attainable:
- “Scale back worker onboarding time from 6 weeks to three weeks”
- “Get rid of guide processes that at the moment require 15 hours of workers time weekly”
- “Improve challenge completion charges by 25% by improved planning methods”
- “Reduce coaching prices by 40% whereas enhancing data retention”
- “Save $30,000 yearly in operational inefficiencies”
This language instantly separates you from freelancers competing on value alone. You’re not simply providing providers; you’re providing measurable enterprise enhancements that pay for themselves.
Place Your self as a Enterprise Accomplice, Not a Service Supplier
The very best-paid consultants don’t simply full initiatives; they change into trusted advisors who perceive their purchasers’ companies and supply ongoing strategic worth. Your company background provides you this credibility routinely.
If you speak to potential purchasers, reference your company expertise as proof that you simply perceive their challenges: “In my company function, I noticed firsthand how inefficient onboarding processes value firms 1000’s in misplaced productiveness. That’s why I give attention to creating methods that get new staff contributing worth inside their first two weeks as an alternative of six.”
This positions you as somebody who’s been of their sneakers and is aware of how one can remedy issues from the within out, not simply somebody who realized consulting methods from a course.
Additionally See: 10 Low Funding Dwelling Small Enterprise Concepts That Truly Work
The place to Discover Excessive-Paying Freelance Purchasers Who Worth Your Experience
The purchasers keen to pay $60+ per hour aren’t searching bargain-hunting platforms or posting jobs that say “fast turnaround, low funds.” They’re established companies that perceive the worth {of professional} experience and have actual budgets for fixing their issues.
The trick is understanding the place these purchasers spend their time and how one can place your self as the answer to their challenges, not simply one other freelancer searching for work.
Goal Rising Small to Medium Companies
Firms with 10–100 staff are within the candy spot for premium consulting work. They’re giant sufficient to have actual budgets and real enterprise challenges, however sufficiently small that they don’t have specialised inner groups for the whole lot.
Current Bureau of Labor Statistics knowledge exhibits 64 million People freelanced in 2023, with almost half offering expert data providers like enterprise consulting. Good companies are more and more turning to specialised freelancers for strategic assist as a result of it’s cheaper than hiring full-time staff for project-based work.
Search for companies which might be experiencing these development indicators:
- Not too long ago acquired funding, funding, or a serious mortgage
- Increasing to new places or markets
- Launching new services or products
- Implementing new know-how methods or software program
- Hiring quickly (normally means they want methods and processes)
- Talked about in native enterprise journals for development or awards
These firms have cash to spend and pressing wants that require skilled experience. They’re not searching for the most cost effective choice; they’re searching for somebody who can remedy their issues effectively.
Analysis their challenges earlier than you attain out. Test their web site, LinkedIn firm web page, and up to date information mentions. Are they hiring for positions that relate to your experience? Are they posting about new initiatives? This intel helps you method them with related options as an alternative of generic pitches.
Community The place Enterprise Determination-Makers Collect
Skip the freelancer Fb teams and go the place your excellent purchasers truly spend their time. The company background you typically take with no consideration is definitely your ticket into skilled networks that the majority freelancers can’t entry.
Native Chamber of Commerce occasions are goldmines for assembly enterprise homeowners who want your providers. These aren’t networking occasions filled with different freelancers; they’re enterprise homeowners discussing actual challenges they’re dealing with. Your company expertise helps you match proper in since you communicate their language and perceive their world.
Trade affiliation conferences join you with companies in particular sectors the place you might have expertise. When you labored in healthcare, be a part of healthcare enterprise associations. You probably have manufacturing expertise, search for manufacturing teams. Your business data mixed along with your company expertise makes you extremely useful to those networks.
Enterprise networking teams like BNI (Enterprise Community Worldwide) or native entrepreneur meetups are designed for professionals to refer enterprise to one another. The important thing right here is that you simply’re not competing with different freelancers; you’re the one particular person within the room who presents your particular experience.
LinkedIn is the place company decision-makers hang around day by day. This isn’t about posting generic content material hoping somebody notices. It’s about partaking meaningfully with posts out of your goal purchasers, sharing insights about their business challenges, and constructing relationships over time. Remark thoughtfully on their posts, share related articles, and set up your self as somebody who understands their enterprise.
Place Your self as a Fellow Skilled, Not a Vendor
If you attain out to potential purchasers, method them as a former company skilled providing strategic assist, not somebody desperately in search of work. This mindset shift utterly modifications how purchasers understand and reply to you.
As an alternative of: “Hello, I’m a freelancer searching for challenge administration work. Do you might have any initiatives I may assist with?”
Do that: “I observed you’re implementing a brand new CRM system based mostly in your current LinkedIn submit. In my company function, I managed three main CRM implementations, and I understand how tough the change administration piece could be. I’d be pleased to share some insights about what made our rollouts profitable if that may be useful.”
Share business insights and useful assets earlier than pitching your providers. When you see a possible shopper combating one thing you might have expertise with, provide a fast tip or useful resource. This positions you as a educated peer who occurs to be accessible for consulting, not somebody attempting to promote them one thing.
Use heat introductions each time attainable. Your company community is extremely useful right here. Former colleagues, business connections, {and professional} contacts can introduce you to potential purchasers rather more successfully than chilly outreach. Don’t be shy about letting individuals know you’re now accessible for consulting work.
Keep away from the Race-to-the-Backside Platforms
Whereas platforms like Upwork and Fiverr can work for some freelancers, they’re not the place you’ll discover purchasers keen to pay $60–$100+ per hour for strategic consulting. These platforms prepare purchasers to buy on value, not worth.
As an alternative, give attention to:
- Trade-specific job boards that company purchasers truly use
- Skilled associations in your goal industries
- Direct outreach to firms that suit your excellent shopper profile
- Referrals out of your present community
- Talking at business occasions or conferences
- Writing articles for business publications
Construct relationships, not simply shopper lists. The very best-paying consulting work comes from long-term relationships with purchasers who belief your experience and name you first once they have challenges. Your company background provides you on the spot credibility in constructing these relationships since you perceive how companies actually function.
Bear in mind, you’re not simply one other freelancer attempting to get employed. You’re a former company skilled who understands enterprise challenges from the within out. That have is extremely useful, however provided that you place it appropriately and goal purchasers who can respect what you deliver to the desk.
Right here’s what I would like you to recollect: when you’ve been pondering your company expertise are abnormal, consultants along with your precise background have been charging $60–$100+ per hour for that very same experience. The one distinction between you and them is that they acknowledged the worth of what they already knew.
You don’t have to be taught new expertise or get further certifications. You don’t want years of freelancing expertise or a elaborate web site. You have already got the whole lot you should begin commanding premium charges. You simply have to place it appropriately.
Your company background provides you one thing most freelancers won’t ever have: real-world expertise with how companies truly function, credibility that comes from being inside the company world, and specialised expertise that took years to develop. That’s not abnormal – that’s precisely what rising companies are trying to find.
Cease ready for permission to cost what you’re value. Your experience has worth immediately, proper now, precisely as it’s. The companies that want your assist are on the market searching for somebody similar to you. They’re keen to pay premium charges for the peace of thoughts that comes with hiring somebody who really understands their challenges.
It’s time to cease undervaluing your self and begin getting paid what your experience is definitely value.
