I was charging $50 an hour for web design and couldn't figure out why I was broke.

My client in Austin asked for a detailed invoice, and when I added up the actual hours I spent on emails, calls, and revisions, I was only billing for about 15 hours of a 40-hour week. The rest was unpaid admin work that I never counted. How do you track and price all that hidden time so you actually make a living wage?

3 comments

3 Comments

fiona_murphy10d ago

Welcome to the secret club of working for free, we meet in the break room of our own homes. That "admin work" is still work, so you gotta start the clock the second you even think about their project. Track everything in a simple spreadsheet, even the five minute email, and then build that time into your project price or your hourly rate. Honestly, doubling your rate is probably step one, because $50 an hour turns into like $20 real fast once you count all that unpaid stuff. It's a brutal lesson, but at least now you know why the math never worked out.

felix_hayes6410d ago

Austin's a tough market but $50 an hour is still real money if you manage your time right. Fiona_murphy's spreadsheet idea just adds more unpaid admin tracking the admin. The real fix is getting faster at emails and setting clear limits on revisions before you start.

williamb299d ago

Wait you were only charging $50 an hour in Austin? That's insane for that market. No wonder the math wasn't working out for you at all.