Crossed 50 recurring retainers this quarter and it threw me for a loop

I've been running my web design agency for about 3 years now and somehow we landed our 50th monthly retainer client last month without me really tracking it. It got me thinking - is steady growth from referrals and word of mouth actually better than chasing big one-off projects? For anyone else who hit an unexpected number recently, did it change how you think about your agency's direction or was it just a number to you?

2 comments

2 Comments

nora7352d agoMost Upvoted

We hit our 40th retainer at our agency about 6 months ago and it really made me sit back and think. For us, the slow, steady growth from referrals has been way more stable than those big one-off projects that come with tons of stress and payment chasing. I remember when we were younger, we'd celebrate a $10k one-off client that took months of back and forth, but now a $2k retainer that renews every month feels way better for our cash flow and my sanity. It changed how I think about the agency because I realized we don't need to chase every shiny opportunity or try to land that huge client that might burn us out. We just focus on doing good work for the people we have, and the referrals naturally stack up without us having to spend on ads or cold outreach. So yeah, hitting that number made me double down on keeping our current clients happy instead of trying to scale fast.

val_taylor2d ago

Kinda feels like you're making a bigger deal out of this than it needs to be. Hitting 40 retainers is nice and all, but it's not some life changing revelation. You just figured out that steady money beats chasing big checks. That's basic business 101, not some deep wisdom. A lot of people do this without having to "sit back and think" about it for six months. Your post reads like you're patting yourself on the back for something most people figure out after their first bad client experience.