The moment I realized I was overbilling for hours I never tracked properly

About 8 months ago I landed a $3,000 retainer client in Austin, and I was stoked. But by month three I noticed my profit margin was way lower than I thought. I checked my actual time logs against what I billed and realized I was undercharging by like 8 hours a month because I wasn't tracking small revisions and quick calls. It finally clicked when a friend at a meetup said she uses a simple timer app for every single task, even 2 minute emails. Has anyone else found this gap between estimated vs actual hours killing their margins?

3 comments

3 Comments

webb.xena14d ago

Have you tried any of the simpler timer apps that just run in the background?

finley_walker5713d ago

My buddy tried one of those no-frills timer apps last month. His phone didn't explode or anything, but he did forget the pizza in the oven anyway. So it worked about as well as his brain does.

gonzalez.phoenix13d ago

Ha, so it was a user error not a tech problem? Did he at least set the timer before walking away or was it a case of setting it and then ignoring it completely?