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Why I quote a fixed price before writing any code
Before I write a single line of code, you'll know exactly what you're getting, how much it'll cost and when it'll be done. It's one of the first things I tell new clients, and it surprises a lot of them - especially anyone who's been stung by an open-ended invoice before.
Here's why I work that way, how I come up with the number, and what happens when I get it wrong.
I charge £30 an hour, so you might be wondering why I don't just bill for the hours and send an invoice at the end. The trouble is, that puts all the risk on you. You don't know what you're going to pay until the work's done, and every question you ask or change you make feels like it's adding to the bill.
That's the opposite of how a good project should feel. I want you to ask questions, and I want you to tell me when something doesn't look right. A fixed price takes the worry away. You know the number before we start, so you can budget for it, get sign-off if you need to, and stop thinking about the meter running.
A fixed price is only as good as the thinking behind it, so I don't just pluck a number out of the air.
A proper chat first. We'll spend about half an hour on a call talking through what your business needs, what's getting in the way and what you've got to spend. It's free, and there's no sales pitch.
Breaking it down. I split the project into pieces - each page or template, the design, any features like a shop or booking system, content, testing and launch - and estimate how long each one will take.
Adding it up. Those hours are worked out at my £30 hourly rate, which gives me the fixed price.
One page, in writing. Within 48 hours you'll get a single page with the scope, the price and the dates. No 40-page proposal, and nothing starts until you've said yes to it.
If the number's more than you were expecting, we'll look at what we can trim. I'd much rather cut scope than cut corners.
The quote covers everything we've agreed in the scope, including the rounds of changes. For a design project, that's one design and two rounds of changes, which is plenty to get it right for most projects.
Payment is split up too. It's 40% to book your dates and 60% on launch, and bigger projects are split into three stages, so you're never paying for work that hasn't happened yet.
Estimating isn't an exact science, and I'd be lying if I said I always get it spot on. Sometimes a feature takes longer than I expected, or something turns out to be trickier than it looked. When that happens, it's on me. The price we agreed is the price you pay - you shouldn't be charged extra for my mistake.
It's different when the project itself changes. If halfway through you decide you'd like an extra page or a new feature, that's new work, and I'll tell you what it'll cost before I start on it. You can then decide whether it's worth doing now, or something to come back to later. Either way, you won't get an invoice you weren't expecting.
A fixed price means you can plan properly and ask as many questions as you like. For me, it means I have to really understand your project before I start, which nearly always leads to a better website. It keeps us both honest, and it means we can spend our time on the work itself, not on arguing over the bill.
If you've got a project in mind, have a look at my pricing to get a rough idea, or get in touch and I'll put together a proper quote. A couple of lines is plenty to get started.
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