Many freelancers set their hourly rate too low because they compare it with a normal employee salary. That is a mistake. A freelancer does not bill every working hour. They also need to pay for taxes, software, insurance, unpaid admin work, sales calls, learning time, sick days, and slow months. If you only divide your target income by 40 hours per week, your rate will almost always be too low. The common mistake A simple but misleading calculation looks like this: Target annual income / working hours = hourly rate For example: $80,000 / 2,000 hours = $40 per hour At first, $40 per hour may look enough. But this assumes every working hour is paid. In real freelance work, that is rarely true. Billable hours are not the same as working hours A freelancer may work 40 hours per week, but only part of that time is billable.…