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I used to bill every project flat, then a $340 invoice taught me something
I ran my small design shop on flat project fees for 4 years until a client added 9 rounds of changes to a $2,500 logo job and my real hourly rate dropped to $18. A bookkeeper in Toledo showed me her agency's numbers and said the shops that survive past year 5 bill for scope changes from the start, not just the base work. How do you all handle a client who keeps asking for small tweaks without it turning into a fight?
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pipergonzalez7d ago
I used to roll my eyes at change order fees. Thought it made me look greedy and scared off the small clients. Then I had the same thing happen, a $1,800 branding job that turned into three months of "just one more tweak" and I did the math and wanted to cry. What changed my mind was how you frame it. You tell them up front in the contract that the quote covers two rounds of changes, and after that it's an hourly rate. Say it flat and friendly at the start, not when things go bad. Now when a client asks for round five I just point at the paper and say sure, this one's at my rate, and nobody fights because it was never a surprise.
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