Would appreciate some advice on this. Long story short things have been tricky at work with the economic impact on our business and in order to remain profitable the business has paid out a lot less in commissions. I rely on these as a single earner who is also a primary carer for a disabled son and now also a carer for a sick wife. I am a leader in my organisation on a decent basic salary but specialist care costs for my son are astronomical, and I need to pay that so I can go to meetings/office etc as my wife is unable to care for him.

Long story short I have the opportunity to do some consultancy work on the side to make up the shortfall. This is with various organisations. I'm going to speak to my employer about this on Tuesday and be up front about it and why I'm doing it however there may be some sensitivity as some of these organisations are competitors so I'd need to pick and choose of course the projects I take on.

As soon as the market picks up again and commissions revert back to the norm I'd drop the consultancy gigs.

Has anyone done consulting work on the side and got advice on things to look our for and how best to broach this with employer?