The Rookie Freelancer Mistake
A salaried engineer making ā¹12,00,000 / year divides their salary by 2,000 working hours and assumes their freelance rate should be ā¹600 / hour.
This leads directly to burnout. As a freelancer, you do not bill 40 hours a week:
- Only 50% to 65% of your hours are billable. The remaining time is consumed by client prospecting, sending quotes, bookkeeping, and scope discovery.
- You have no paid sick leave, no paid vacations, no company health insurance, and no employer PF contribution.
The Freelance Hourly Rate Formula
$$\text{Hourly Rate} = \frac{\text{Target Net Annual Income} + \text{Operating Expenses} + \text{Taxes}}{\text{Total Billable Weeks} \times \text{Actual Billable Hours / Week}}$$
Calculate your sustainable rate with the Freelance Rate Calculator on Tools24Now.