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Elsewhere on the web, he explains his business model:

"There seems to be some correlation between size of the company and the quantity of their needs. The smaller they are, the more needs they have. The opposite is true as well. So yes, many clients pay $2k+ per month and may use the service once or twice a month, equating to under an hour’s worth of work."

Source: https://www.indiehackers.com/post/designjoy-crosses-70k-mrr-...

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The big companies are paying for on-demand access as insurance. They aren't stupid. They fully understand they're paying $2K+ per month and only using service for an hour or two each month.

What becomes challenging at those rates and client densities is managing a tail risk of a collision of multiple big clients suddenly wanting services at the same time. You're just playing chicken with that happening, until you can scale your offerings and revenue up to where you can reduce client density to where you can handle the crunch better when it happens.

Or in that moment you realize demand for your service exceeds supply and the correct response is to raise your rates until you have a reasonable workload. If they won’t pay $5k+ monthly retainer for someone who knows how to build their system, surely they have a cheaper alternative. Meanwhile the clients with budgets you really want to work for are happy to pay your fees because they’re cheaper than your comparable salary. If you’re selling a monthly retainer and hit that collision you describe, you’re in a fantastic position to negotiate rates. Better to be on a use it or lose it commitment than accruing unspent hours, otherwise yeah you can get screwed.

Sort of like keeping someone on retainer.

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