Compared flat fee vs hourly billing for a 3 month project and flat fee won big time

I took on a website redesign for a local bakery last quarter and was torn between charging hourly or a flat $3,000 fee. I went with the flat rate after a buddy said hourly kills trust with small clients. Turned out the client needed way more revisions than I expected, about 8 extra hours, but since I stuck to the flat fee they were super happy and even referred me to two other shops. Hourly would've made them feel nickel and dimed every time they asked to tweak the color of a button. Anyone else find flat fees work better for retaining small biz clients?

3 comments

3 Comments

oliver_morgan2mo ago

Read a post from a designer who said flat fees made their clients trust them way more because they stopped second guessing every little change. That bakery referral thing is huge too, word of mouth in small biz circles can beat any ad. The extra 8 hours you ate probably paid off three times over with those two new projects. Hourly can make clients feel like they're being charged for breathing, especially when they just want to tweak a font size or swap a photo. Flat fee basically says "I got you, stop worrying" and that peace of mind keeps them coming back.

the_holly2mo ago

Oh man, yes this is exactly what I found too! I switched to flat fees last year and suddenly clients stopped asking "how long will THAT take?" every time they wanted a tiny change. It's like the trust just appeared out of nowhere. The peace of mind goes both ways too, I spend way less mental energy tracking every little task and just focus on doing good work instead.

max4151mo ago

Dude exactly the same thing happened to me with a coffee shop site last year. Flat fee made them feel like I was on their team instead of just watching the clock. The referrals alone made up for the extra hours I ate.