Have you ever been a one man Geek Squad? (Of course you have)
DanielBMarkham: Quick Version:1) Charge at least 45/hour. Yes you can charge less, but no it doesn't scale. I might even go higher. You have to make enough so you can pay all the fun taxes and insurance premiums you need -- even if you decide to skip out of them for a while.2) Have a minimum hour block. Back in the dark ages, I used to have a 3 hour minimum. So if you had a problem and were willing to pay for 3 hours, I would come (to your business) and fix your computer. Now that I'm in management consulting I charge by the day. If you don't block out your time, your clients will make your life hell.3) Knock on some doors. Best way to make sales. Go downtown and start knocking on doors. Ten bucks says within the first 20 doors you make a sale. Repeat and rinse.4) Never work for free. That means NEVER. Even for your mom. Word will get out and you'll end up too busy to work your business.5) Be ready to refund people's money. I used to have one rule: if you're unhappy in any way, you get your money back. Sure -- I got jerks. But I never dealt with them twice.6) Enjoy the performance. On-site consulting is like one of those plays where the audience gets to participate. Know your stuff and be good at performance art. Remember to the end-user, they have no idea of what anything is worth. Their stuff is broken and you can fix it. So when you do, do a good job. Do extra work. Ham it up a bit. Tell some jokes. Have fun. People will remember you in a happy way, even if their wallet still stings. <-- That's exactly the way you want to be remembered.