I think there are a few things you need to bear in mind about rates: first, that they will vary greatly based on who you work for and the type of work that you do; second, that there is a difference between a standard rate card and what clients actually pay.I won't disclose specific rates for my firm because they are commercially sensitive, but they range from low £1000s for our junior consultants up to many thousands a day for our partners. But that's only half of the story. Because it's a very rare client that pays our full rate card.Nearly every client gets a discount against our standard rates -- either as a loss-leader for new business, as part of a standard contract, or based on volume discount. We may sell a manager to one client on a one-off engagement at £2500 per day, then sell them to another client who throws us tons of work at £1700 per day. Rate card on the manager could be £3000, but who cares -- no one pays that in reality.Other factors to consider are models where risk/reward is shared -- though you might cut the dayrates, your 'reward' portion will be higher to account for the increased risk and exposure you face.Finally, it depends on how specialised your skills are. If you're dealing in commodity consulting, you'll struggle to break the £2K rate -- particularly if you're dealing in an arena where there is considerable contract labour (many of whom are willing to do the same job at £600 a day). If, on the other hand, you've got a unique set of skills, robust methodologies or proprietary IP, you'll probably be able to charge a lot more for your time.The bottom line is this -- most consultancies will generally charge as much as the market (and client) will bear. When you hit a pricing ceiling, you need to differentiate your service or skills to achieve higher rates. You can do this in a number of ways -- the perceived skills of your staff (a la MBBB), your methodologies and IP (big 4), industry-specific expertise (boutiques).
