Private decision summary
For you only
- Personal spending and business overhead
- Tax or extraction reserve
- Emergency cash and financial runway
- Capital target and desired surplus
- Rate and downside scenarios
Keep the boundary clear
One number supports your decision. Another supports the conversation.
Your minimum sustainable rate tells you when to walk away or renegotiate. It should include private assumptions the client never needs to see. The proposed rate belongs in a separate brief based on the engagement.
Client-safe negotiation brief
Safe to send
- Proposed day rate and billing basis
- Role, commitment and engagement snapshot
- Value and intended outcomes
- Commercial terms and review point
- Decisive discussion points
A stronger commercial case
Move the conversation away from your personal needs.
“I need this rate” is weak. “This rate reflects the specialist capacity, delivery responsibility, lower delivery risk and continuity required for the engagement” gives the buyer a business reason to evaluate.
Proposed rate: €500/day
Six months · five days/week · 30-day terms · one-month notice
Common questions
Negotiate the engagement, not just the number.
Should I show the client my minimum rate?
No. Your private floor reflects personal spending, savings goals and buffers. The client brief should contain only commercial context.
What should justify the proposed rate?
The specialist capacity, responsibility, delivery risk, continuity and outcomes required by the engagement—not your private costs.
What must be agreed besides the rate?
Confirm outcomes, decision authority, weekly capacity, start date, contract length, review point, invoicing, payment terms, notice and expenses.
Generate the private calculation and the client-safe brief separately.
Use the planner before a new contract, renewal or planned gap. Your private figures never appear in the client PDF.
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