HOW TO WORK OUT MY DAY RATE| CREATIVE KNOWLEDGE BROKER NINJA TIP
Here is a little pro tip about calculating how much to charge per day.
I find it’s a common problem, that nearly every time I speak to a new artist and ask them how much they charge per day, they don’t have a clear answer..
They will generally give me one of two answers. Firstly, “ I’m not quite sure, what do you recommend?” or secondly, “ I’ve kind of worked out a day rate based on what my friend charges, so I’m going to charge the same.”
This is a problem because when you calculate your day rate you need to align it with what you’re living, and overhead costs are going to be at the end of the year otherwise you could end up with a financial shortfall.
Therefore, it is important to calculate all your outgoing expenses for the business and your living expenses such as rent, utilities, food etc.
Once all these figures have been finalised then it is essential that you add a percentage on top for savings and investment, to enable future growth of your business.
Now I’m not going to dive too deep into how to do this, because it’s covered in our ‘ Go From Zero To Creative Pro’ course, but the point of this ninja tip is, once you know roughly what you need to cover per month with a little bit extra on top, then you can work out your yearly outgoings and what you need to earn each day to cover this.
Make sure you are not undercharging or you could find yourself at the end of the year thinking, “I’ve worked pretty much for nothing this year and have no growth to show for it.”
Now it’s time for you to work out your day rate. Set up a spreadsheet and start listing all your business and living expenses for each month of the year. Next, add a percentage onto this total for savings and growth. Finally divide this by the number of days you are predicting you will work over the course of the year.
That’s it, that’s your day rate.