What is a reasonable consulting fee?
Reasonable fees are ones where the expected value clearly exceeds the cost and the scope is spelled out up front. Anchor the fee to outcomes, not hours.
For small assessments or workshops, reasonable usually means a fixed fee between $1,500 and $5,000 with a clearly defined deliverable. For implementation work, reasonable is a milestone-based project where you can see value at each stage rather than paying open-ended discovery.
On the other end, for larger strategic engagements, reasonable means fees that align with the revenue impact, cost savings, or risk reduction on the table. A $25,000 engagement that unlocks $250,000 in annual operating savings is a deal. A $5,000 engagement that just produces a PDF nobody acts on is expensive.
The test: can the consultant point to a specific business outcome tied to their fee? If the answer is vague, walk away.
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