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by connie_lingus 4219 days ago
right, but remember what the companies are mostly paying for is the all the resources and reassurances of an IBM, not for the particular developer they are using to get the work done.
1 comments

No, they're really not. Small companies also charge this rate.
This.

I own a small consulting and training shop focusing on a particular "enterprise" product that's used by more companies than I can count, big or little. We charge a premium rate per hour for consulting, and a premium per-day rate for training. Been doing it for over a decade now. Companies that would hire out to Accenture or Avenade or name-your-consulting-firm-here would, in our experience, much prefer to pay someone they can speak to about their skills and work without a technical sales rep getting in the way. It's not even that tough to get into a client's "preferred vendor" list, if they have one.

The combination of humble confidence and actually knowing your shit is a potent one.

Edit: typo

Not disagreeing with you, but I would add, "Small established companies" can charge these rates. No one is going to pay some unknown person/company $200/hr without an established track record.
Yes they will, because that is the rate they're expecting. If you charge a lot less, they'll grin all the way to the bank.

Every other industry, new haulage firm? They charge slightly less than other ones maybe.

Programmers? Charge 20%. I've done it! We're idiots.