Our tagline is: “We specialize in happy clients”… but how can we ensure we get a 5-star A+ rating at the end of every project? It comes down to expectations.
Nobody wants to be blindsided by unexpected out-of-budget costs. We work with clients of all sizes and budgets – we can work with you to scale the scope to match your budget.
Here are the four tools we use to mitigate budget risks and keep all our projects on track:
1. The Ballpark estimate: We provide a free one-hour consultation where we will sit down with you to understand what you need to get done. No obligation or sales pitches – just us listening and getting the lay of the land. With this initial consultation, we can often give a range even without knowing every detail. This helps to ensure we are initially on the same page with costs.
2. The rate card: Curious about how much a certain product or application generally costs? We list out these costs in our rate card – with general ranges for our different offerings. Request that [link to planning assets] here.
3. The full discovery package (with deliverables): This is where the real value lies. It is primarily designed for larger or more complex applications. With this service, we take a deep dive into creating a blueprint for your project. Just as it would be unwise to build a house without a blueprint, the same holds true for application development. You will need this before you proceed with the actual build – no exceptions. We will provide deliverables that map out exactly what you want to do and a line-by-line estimate of what it will cost and why. Through this three-week process, you will also get to know what it’s like to work with our team. More importantly, you will get clickable wireframes (with every screen of your app), a technical specification doc, and a line-by-line estimate. You could take these deliverables to another agency – really, no hard feelings if we are not the right fit, but this is the first step in the creation of any non-trivial digital product. See examples [link to planning assets] HERE.
4. Hourly pricing: With full visibility to hours logged (daily!) and a visible running total of hours used vs hours estimated, there will be no ambiguity about where we are – it’s 100% measurable front and center. Hourly pricing is also vital because clients often need to pivot quickly. There’s no need to renegotiate a flat fee contract – you are in the driver’s seat, and we can move in an agile way to make the right moves at the right time. At any time, you can put the brakes on or hit the accelerator and scale the team up. We can be your in-house team or an extension of your team – ramping up and down on demand. That said, if your project has a very narrow and definable scope, we can also work within a flat fee paradigm.
The Lighthouse team boasts extensive experience in handling projects of varying sizes, ranging from small websites catering to local businesses to large-scale applications for Fortune 500 companies. Jesse Hall, the founder, initiated his journey in web development with the establishment of his first company in 2002.
Coming soon!