Dear Bob ...I too am trying to get in to the consulting business ... well a type of consulting I guess. I have a side-business aside from my day-to-day job where I repair computers/networks and consult on the addition of technology in to an organization or home/office. It's nothing fancy. Matter of fact, I don't even have an official name of the business nor do I have the business registered with the government. Dear Bob …I too am trying to get in to the consulting business … well a type of consulting I guess. I have a side-business aside from my day-to-day job where I repair computers/networks and consult on the addition of technology in to an organization or home/office. It’s nothing fancy. Matter of fact, I don’t even have an official name of the business nor do I have the business registered with the government. It’s more of a part-time thing that I do to get a few extra dollars each month if I can.My question, beyond anything you see disconcerting with what I’ve already expressed to you, is how do I develop a pricing sheet? Currently, I charge by hour but I’ve frequently thought that that may not be the best way to go about it. Seeing as how customers are getting charged for how quickly or slowly I work, they would have to trust that I am a fast worker. Do you have any suggestions for me as to how I can improve this? Coming up with a pricing sheet is tough because (as you probably know) computers can cause unforeseen problems that add hours on to a project. Charging hourly allows me to compensate for the additional hours whereas set pricing would not.Any ideas?– Newbie Dear Newbie …First thought: If hourly pricing earns you enough to be happy and isn’t a barrier to landing enough business to keep you busy, there’s no reason to explore alternatives.If you see flat-rate pricing as a way to gain more business … or more profits … then go for it. You’ll never entirely avoid the unforeseen-circumstances trap you described. You can mitigate it by providing flat-rate prices only for those services that are least susceptible to surprises, and especially, only for services where the factors that might cause overruns are mostly under your control. I’d never charge a flat rate for developing an IT strategy, for example, because sometimes, client subject matter experts don’t show up for interviews and we have to reschedule. I do charge a flat rate for an on-site one-day seminar: If a client employee doesn’t show up, it has no impact on my cost of providing the service.You can also build a bit of cushion into the price to cover the risk: If a service usually requires one hour of effort but one time out of twenty things blow up, adding three more hours, make your price what you’d charge for an hour and a half of work at an hourly rate. It might seem like you’re overcharging. From a customer’s perspective, the extra cost is for insurance — they won’t ever have to pay the three hour premium.There’s nothing disconcerting in what you told me, by the way. So long as you report the income on your taxes, avoid conflicts of interest and don’t let it interfere with your day job, I don’t know why it would. – Bob Technology Industry