Feels like paying for the smoking breaks.
I moved into a new house and, with a new baby, it was hard to get anything done. Solution? Get someone to do the cleaning. They came over, said it'd take them ca. 4 hours, cleaned the house, took smoking breaks, did an ok job, finished in 5 hours, billed me, left.
I would've paid them the same amount of money if they did it in 2 or 3 hours. I got pissed only after I felt I paid for their smoking breaks.
We can apply the same dynamic to any profession/professional service that bills by the hour.
6 reasons why hourly billing is shitty for clients.
As a client, it takes too much from my bandwidth to keep at "looking for the maximum ROI". It's:
Unpredictable: I NEVER know what the final cost will be. This SUCKS.
Guess work: It's all based on estimates —that's usually a minimum of +25%.
Energy consuming: Makes me think about money every time they work. Am I getting the right return or do I have to squeeze it from them?
Financial scope creep: Implies taking a financial decision every time I think of them working. Should I hire them or not?
Micromanaging: they need to justify they're actually working when they say they are. Are they slacking?
Is it in my best interest? Are they delaying because they'll make more money?
It builds to erode trust.
We don't accept this dynamic of hourly billing because we as clients have options. We accept it because we're forced to. We are resigned to it... for now. The consequence in the long run? They'll leave you as soon as they find a less energy-draining dynamic.
Unless we want to keep that vicious cycle, we can change things. But. But...
What about scope creep?
What if my margins get too thin?
What if they just want to jump on calls all day long?
What if...