Switched from hourly to flat-rate billing 6 months ago and my income jumped 40% but I'm working less hours

I used to track every minute and send invoices for 25-30 hours a week, but now I quote a flat price per project and finish in 15-20 hours for the same pay. The catch is sometimes a project drags way past what I quoted and eats into the profit. Has anyone else tried this trade-off and see a similar split?

3 comments

3 Comments

scott.alex11d ago

Found flat rate pushed me to scope creep too, ended up hating specific clients.

thea_bell11d ago

That flat rate trap is way too real... you think you're being smart by setting a fixed price, but then every client becomes a special case with extra requests. Scope creep sneaks up on you because people feel entitled to more when they're paying one fee. Worse part is, you start resenting the ones who actually need the most work, even though they're paying the same as the quick easy jobs. Flat rate really punishes you for being good at handling difficult situations. A lot of folks don't realize that until they're stuck hating half their customer base.

sagejackson11d ago

Fair point, but flat rate clients get consistency and trust in return. Can you really blame them for wanting their money's worth?