Posted By Victor Meldrew I hope someone may be able to assist me. I have recently took early retirement from my company which is of course very nice as it involves a final salary pension, however, I do not want to finish completely. Consequently I have been approached by some companies in recent weeks to be their consultant re: OS&H. All of them want to pay me on a retainer type basis, you know, so much a week every week. Do any other consultants work on that basis and how do you work it admin' wise? Is it a written contract, standing order or what? I'm a bit lost on this. Any other associated advice, ideas or templates would be of great help. Regards Victor

Posted By Merv Newman Victor, I cant believe thats your real name and I'm sure you dont look like an old turtle. I've been an "independant" consultant now for about 15 years. Have seldom worked on a retainer basis - normally paid directly by my clients. turn over has ranged from £60 K to £180 k per year - very variable, no certainties. (note : TURNOVER - NOT SALARY) Whatever, each year your need to earn the "nut" - the minimum it takes to stay alive and to keep the business going. this includes salary, travelling, insurance, office supplies, advertising etc etc. Can be up to £50K per year. (one unproductive sales visit can cost up to £1K)(a successfull sales visit can get you up to £500K over 2 or 3 years) In your situation, if you sign up with an established group, the retainer should be enough to ensure a basic living wage and no more. A few hundred pounds a week. I can't be more precise as I dont know much about current UK cost of living. How much is the basic dole this week ? After that you should get a bonus/percentage of each job you do. 35% is about right. Good independant consultants in the UK charge £600 to £800 per day. For me this means that for each day you work for a consulting group they should be paying you at least £200. In addition to the retainer. (a "retainer" only means that they have the right to first call on your time - absolute priority over holidays, family events, whatever - dying of pneumonia, mother's funeral on Tuesday ? Tough. You are on the job 8am monday morning through to midnight on Friday)It does not however mean that they own you and it does not necessarily exclude work on your own behalf or even for other consulting groups. But they do pay you even if the don't find you any work to do. Where you are not on a retainer and a consulting group comes to you as a "one-off" because they do not have their own in-house resources or competences, then the percentage goes up to 90%. They get 10% for brokering the deal. You get 90% for doing the work. Seems fair to me. But they have to know or have heard of you, and you have to have already built up a certain reputation, which takes a few years. I'm lucky in that I used to work for the Dupont consulting group and since I've been independant I have never had to look for clients - they call me. 15 years and it gets better evey year. e-mail if you want to expand the discussion. I have found myself in all three situations over the past 15 years. And paid off the mortgage 10 years early. Merv Newman