interesting thread. 10 yr ago i was working by myself quoting out at $50/hr, and usually had a month+ backlog

7 yr ago i had increased rates to $70 hr, had 1 full time employee and was telling folk sorry, i have a 5 week backlog, they were saying thats great ill take some.

6 yr to last yr back by myself @ $70 and plenty of backlog. my employee took his skills and went into swiss micro machining, wife made him move back south.

last year to now, dropped rates from $70 to as low as $35, even posted that here just to get called a cheap c--t chinese emulator and backstabber. rates are back at $50 just because it didnt seem to matter or help, workload is day to day and gross sales are 40% of past years. actively seeking a job in machining or "industrial engineering", everybody loves my resume. nobody has a job. im looking forward to "next" year.