How a project runs

You describe what you are trying to do and why. I ask the uncomfortable questions. Who is this for? What happens if you do nothing? What have you already tried? What is the real budget?

One of three things is true by the end. There is a project worth scoping, an existing tool already solves it and I name the tool, or it is not a fit and I say so. All three are useful outcomes. Most agencies will not give you the third one.

I write the scope down. The specific things that will exist when this is finished, the things explicitly excluded, the assumptions behind the estimate, and a fixed price. Large or uncertain projects get scoped one phase at a time rather than estimated in full.

You read it and push back. We revise until it is right. Work starts only once you hold a document you understand, because "I thought that was included" is the most common way these relationships break down.

Development runs in short cycles. Each one ends with something deployed that you can open and use. You review a working product rather than a description of one.

You get a direct line to me instead of a project manager relaying messages. When something runs longer than estimated you hear it that week, not at the deadline. Overruns happen in software. Concealing them is the real failure.

Production deployment, monitoring, and a full handover pack. Source code in a repository you own. Hosting, domains, and third-party services registered to your accounts. Credentials transferred. Documentation written for whoever maintains this next, who may not be me.

This is deliberate. A large part of this industry runs on dependency, holding code or hosting or domain access so that leaving hurts. You should be able to fire me on Tuesday and hand the project to someone else on Wednesday. That constraint keeps me earning the work.

Every project includes a warranty period covering defects present at delivery. Those get fixed free. Charging to repair my own mistake is not a business model I will run.

Anything beyond that is optional and month to month. No annual contracts. No maintenance package stapled to a build. If the software needs constant paid attention just to keep running, I built it badly.