Chose a flat rate over hourly for a 3 month retainer, no regrets yet

Picked a fixed $4,500 monthly deal instead of tracking every hour because my last time-based contract got ugly over email threads, and 2 months in the client's actually happy since they never see a surprise number, has anyone else made that call for a long project and lived to tell about it?

2 comments

2 Comments

garcia.wren6d ago

winning the lottery" is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. you found one client who doesnt abuse the flat rate, that's not luck, that's just a decent human being. but lets be real, that's like 10% of clients at best. the other 90% will absolutely treat your fixed price as an open buffet. i'm not saying your choice was dumb, but three months is a really short window to declare victory. wait until month six when they start asking for "small tweaks" that somehow take a full week. honestly, your setup only works because the client is chill, not because flat rates are smart. the model itself is still a trap for most people, you just dodged a bullet this time.

gracej996d ago

wait, $4,500 flat for THREE months and you didnt even have to track a single email thread? thats wild to me honestly. most people i know who tried flat rates ended up eating like 20 extra hours a week by month two, but you saying the client is happy kinda blows my mind. i guess the real shocker is that you found a client who doesnt use the flat rate as an excuse to dump endless revisions on you, that alone feels like winning the lottery. keep that one close, seriously, cause thats the part that usually breaks people.