To Susan's thoughtful list of high overhead in NYC, I would like to add
the following items:
rented storage for your supplies when you have a small NYC apartment;
more kinds of insurance than you can count, especially if you have an
office;
the drain on your time when it takes 45 minutes to find a parking space
10 blocks away from the client's home;
the extra wear and tear on your car (not to mention your nervous system)
of sitting in bumper to bumper traffic more often than not;
the higher prices you pay to get everything fixed, including said car
(our alarm guy just charged us $185 for a half hour of his time);
and the general cost of living is high.

But I still don't charge anywhere near $125 an hour!

I have developed some strategies to trim overhead:
plan my housecalls carefully, to go East in the morning, and West in the
afternoon.
ask every client about the local parking situation, and use public
transportation or cabs if there is no readily available parking, try to
arrive 15 mins before alternate side of the street parking ends, and do
some paperwork in the car while I wait with everyone else who arrived
early to get a spot.
do anything possible to avoid the BQE (Brooklyn Queens Express(NOT)way,
for those unfamiliar with the Big Apple).
listen to conference tapes in the car to make all that driving time
profitable at least intellectually.
be careful buying office supplies, etc, make a list and stick to it to
avoid being enticed by cutesie things that cut into the profit margin.

There are other things I should do but never seem to have the time, like
shop for a cheaper insurance company for my office and car insurance.
Oh well.
--
Catherine Watson Genna, IBCLC  New York City  mailto:[log in to unmask]

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