Contractor told me I should charge per project not per hour, been fighting that idea for years but now I'm wondering

Had a guy at a local IT meetup in Phoenix say my hourly rate was leaving $20k a year on the table because I was slower than the guys who charged flat fees for the same job, so which side actually makes more sense in the long run?

3 comments

3 Comments

jennybailey6d ago

Stop the clock right there - $20k a year? That's a whole car payment or a solid vacation fund just sitting on the table. If you're slow but thorough, the flat fee guys are probably rushing through jobs and cutting corners to pull that off. I'd take that contractor's advice with a big grain of salt, unless he can show you his actual numbers and not just a sales pitch.

emma_lee226d ago

YES that is exactly what I was trying to say but you said it way better. I actually had a similar thing happen last year where a flat fee guy quoted me almost half of what I was getting and it turned out he was skipping steps. He didn't do any prep work and just painted right over the old stuff which started peeling after a few months. The slow and thorough approach is the only way to guarantee it actually lasts, especially if you're paying someone. Why would you rush through something you're paying for, right?

sethm586d ago

@emma_lee22 nailed it. That prep work is everything. I've seen so many people get burned by the cheap guys who skip sanding and primer just to save a couple hours. Spend the extra time or money up front, or you're just paying to do it all over again next year.