Comparing flat fee vs hourly billing for my retainer clients was eye opening

I switched three small clients to flat fee retainers after a lawyer friend suggested it and my revenue predictability went up like 40% in 2 months. Has anyone else found that hourly billing creates weird friction with clients over every little email?

3 comments

3 Comments

phoenix_thompson412d ago

yeah @emma_clark, scope creep hit me too until I wrote REAL tight contracts. hourly billing SUCKS for trust though

caleb_ross1212d ago

Have you tried mixing it up with milestone-based payments? Like, break the project into chunks with specific deliverables and pay for each one as you go. That way you both have a clear cutoff point if things start creeping, and the trust issue kinda solves itself since they see progress tied to money. I've found it keeps the client honest without making them feel like they're being nickel-and-dimed every hour.

emma_clark12d agoMost Upvoted

Think you're confusing predictability with profitability there, flat fees can backfire if scope creeps.