When I consult hourly, I bill in 6 minute increments for only focused work. Anything 3 minutes or less doesn't cost you any money.
If you have me do something that is longer than ~30 minutes, I will charge you from the moment I start to prepare your project, catching the spin-up/context switch time. If you interrupted my focus time with another client, nobody gets charged for my break if I need one to refocus.
This is how a lot of lawyers do it, and my clients tend to be familiar with that model. I also charge lawyer-level rates, so I think people appreciate only paying for focused work and receiving an itemized bill.
This is all for when I bill hourly - I prefer to bill a project rate instead.
Many engineers charge much less per hour but charge for an hour every single time they think about your project. That also works.
If you have me do something that is longer than ~30 minutes, I will charge you from the moment I start to prepare your project, catching the spin-up/context switch time. If you interrupted my focus time with another client, nobody gets charged for my break if I need one to refocus.
This is how a lot of lawyers do it, and my clients tend to be familiar with that model. I also charge lawyer-level rates, so I think people appreciate only paying for focused work and receiving an itemized bill.
This is all for when I bill hourly - I prefer to bill a project rate instead.
Many engineers charge much less per hour but charge for an hour every single time they think about your project. That also works.