Price Your Work for the Life You Want, Not the One You’re Leaving

Pricing and rate-setting when you're changing careers or launching a business can feel like guesswork. Here’s the real math behind setting rates that cover taxes, tools, time off, and a calmer life.

One of the biggest mistakes new consultants and freelancers make in midlife is pricing their work like employees.

Underpricing can feel deceptively like humility — like you’re being reasonable, grateful, not “too much.” In reality, it’s one of the fastest ways to exhaust yourself and destabilize a business before it ever gains traction.

When you work for yourself, your rate isn’t just paying for your time.

Whether you charge hourly, per project, or sell a course, the number has to absorb everything your employer once handled quietly in the background: taxes, insurance, software subscriptions, unpaid admin hours, slower months, faster internet, backup plans, paying yourself, retirement savings, and more.

If your pricing doesn’t account for all of that, freedom will always feel fragile and riskier than it needs to.

And here’s the part that doesn’t get talked about enough: if you start with an unsustainable rate, every new client you add or product you sell simply compounds the problem.

More volume won’t fix bad pricing. It just scales the losses.

You end up busier, not freer — working harder and pouring more of yourself into something that was never priced to sustain you in the first place.

If you’re stepping into freelance work, consulting, remote contracts, or building a side business, this week’s step is simple: stop pricing for the life you’re leaving.

Start pricing for the life you want.

One Step Closer is our no-fluff series on taking small, intentional steps toward a freer, location-independent life — without burning out or starting over.