Why we don't do retainers (yet)
Retainer revenue is stable. Retainer work is the worst kind of work for studios our size. A note on the trade-off.
Every studio above a certain size sells retainers. The math is good - predictable revenue, smoother cash flow, fewer sales cycles. We don't sell retainers. Yet.
The trade-off we noticed
Retainer hours fill with the work that's available, not the work that's best. A retainer client with a slow month pulls us into busywork - small fixes, polish, maintenance. The studio learns to fill time, not deliver outcomes.
Project work is the opposite. The clock is the project. A finished site, a launched product, a shipped redesign. Outcome-shaped, not hour-shaped.
For a studio our size - small, hands-on, betting on craft - outcome-shaped pays back better.
Where we are open to it
A small number of clients we've already shipped one project for, who have a clear ongoing need, who would otherwise hire someone full-time. For those, a retainer is a halfway house that helps them avoid a hire.
We've taken on three retainers like this in two years. Each one had real reasons.
The future
We'll likely add more retainers when the team is bigger and the senior people have leverage to push back on the scope-creep risk. Today we're not there.