How to Set Consulting Rate?

I've read, as a general rule, 2x what you'd be earning if you were in a salary position is a good place to start. You can then factor in reputation, demand, etc, and increase or decrease from there.

If it's extremely technical, I've seen 3x as a starting point and somewhere between 4x-5x in strategic positions at C-suite or similar level.

take it with a grain of salt as these are just baseline values. Everyone is going to greatly differ based on location, industry, level of expertise, $$ of value that it may impact. good luck!

By rate I think you mean $/day or $/hour. There is a more lucrative approach:

Charge for the value you deliver not the time it takes. E.g. you increased the client's sales by $500,000 for a net profit of $100,000 - charge $20,000. You saved the client $150,000 by doing something differently - charge $30,000.

When you consistently deliver measurable value to clients, you won't be staying in a full-time job for long. Consulting will be far more fun.

Might be somewhat tangential, but I found this book extremely helpful:

The Secrets of Consulting : Gerald Weinberg

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/566213

I can't believe this comment is 12 years old already, but here you go: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4247615

Whatever you’re charging now increase it by 25% on your next 3 leads. If all balk at the price, dial it back a bit, find a rate people agree to and repeat the process. If you get sales at the new rate, increase it again until people say no.

Or undercharge and underdeliver. That’s been my life’s philosophy at work. Hard to cut the guy who charges the least even if he’s just OK.

My approach. IMO, people are better estimating monthly costs than hourly costs. Hence, set a monthly cost and divide it to 160 (hours per month with 5 days 8 hours and 4 weeks). You can add 30% or higher for any risks.