Hi all,
I've been consulting for 11 years now, mostly programming, web updates, database work, etc, for a variety of clients. I do a mix of hourly billing and quoted work, as the job demands.
I'm considering shutting down the business and taking a full time job, for a variety of reasons, but most of all because I could probably make more money that way. I realized that even in the "good" years, the business doesn't produce enough income to offset the "bad" years. The last year or so has been rather slow, which emphasized this point to me.
Before I totally bail out, I was wondering if anyone here uses a "retainer" or "service contract" type model? I subcontract for a company that does this - any updates or maintenance to a client site / application requires an ongoing monthly fee. This typically includes X hours of work on the site, but whether any work is required, the monthly fee still applies.
I'm considering trying this out as a way to smooth out income, and weed out small clients, but haven't noticed this being used by individual consultants like me. I guess it comes down to the size of my clients, and how many I can get to make this committment.
Anyone have any experience with this?
-Jim
I've been consulting for 11 years now, mostly programming, web updates, database work, etc, for a variety of clients. I do a mix of hourly billing and quoted work, as the job demands.
I'm considering shutting down the business and taking a full time job, for a variety of reasons, but most of all because I could probably make more money that way. I realized that even in the "good" years, the business doesn't produce enough income to offset the "bad" years. The last year or so has been rather slow, which emphasized this point to me.
Before I totally bail out, I was wondering if anyone here uses a "retainer" or "service contract" type model? I subcontract for a company that does this - any updates or maintenance to a client site / application requires an ongoing monthly fee. This typically includes X hours of work on the site, but whether any work is required, the monthly fee still applies.
I'm considering trying this out as a way to smooth out income, and weed out small clients, but haven't noticed this being used by individual consultants like me. I guess it comes down to the size of my clients, and how many I can get to make this committment.
Anyone have any experience with this?
-Jim
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