Guides for running a profitable studio
Practical, no-fluff writing on project margin, the real cost of an hour, pricing, and tracking time your team will actually trust. Start with the complete guide, then go deep.
Project profitability for studios
The pillar guide — revenue, cost, utilization, pricing and overtime, tied together with where to go deep on each.
9 min readHow to calculate project margin in a studio
Revenue minus the real cost of your team’s time — the formula, a worked example, and why quarter-end Excel fails.
6 min readWhat a developer hour really costs
Fully-loaded cost — salary, taxes, overhead and unbilled hours — the number every fixed-price quote depends on.
5 min readHourly vs fixed-price: which protects your margin?
Who carries the overrun risk, when to use each model, and what it means for the profit on a project.
3 min readBillable vs non-billable hours, explained
Why not every hour earns revenue, and how the ratio quietly sets your real cost per hour.
3 min readTime tracking without surveillance
Why trust-based tracking beats screenshots and keyloggers — kinder to your team, and better data for margin.
5 min read