To All:
I have been programming for approximately two years now with Visual Foxpro, and I am starting to feel confident enough in my skills to make a go of it on my own as a consultant or as a member of a consulting team (the latter being preferrable). The only problem is that I don't have a lot of knowledge in how to proceed with something like this.
I have questions that need answering such as what is a fair hourly rate for a consultant and how should I measure my skills to accurately rate myself as a programmer? And what are standard types of contracts that are signed between consultants and the companies that they work for? More specifically, within a contract, what sort of risk should the consultant shoulder in the agreement and what risk should the employer shoulder?
If anyone would like to offer a small treatise on the this topic, I would be most grateful.