I was wrong about hourly billing for 5 years

Used to swear by hourly billing because it felt fair and transparent. Then last March a client in Seattle sent me a list of tasks they wanted done and asked for a flat project fee instead. I fought it hard but finally gave in after they said they'd go elsewhere. Turns out I finished the work in 60 hours but billed them for what would have been 90 hours on my old rate. That moment made me realize hourly billing actually punishes efficiency and rewards slow work. Has anyone else switched and seen their profit margins change in unexpected ways?

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the_viola4mo ago

Whole food stores figured this out decades ago.

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holly474mo ago

Oh man, this hits close to home! I had a similar wakeup call when I was doing web updates for a local bakery. They wanted a fixed price for monthly maintenance and I was scared I'd get stuck doing way more work than I planned. First month I finished everything in like 4 hours but billed them for 10 on my hourly rate. Felt guilty actually... but then realized that's just how it works for everyone else who does flat fees.

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