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PSA: Stop obsessing over proper project scopes before starting
Spent 2 months writing 10 page scopes for web dev jobs and still got scope creep anyway. A $500 project turned into $900 in extra work, so now I just block a max hour limit and let them know that's the real boundary.
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abbyhall2mo ago
Read an article from a freelancer group I'm in that called scope documents "pre-negotiated conflict" and honestly that stuck with me. They pointed out how the more specific you get, the more ammo the client has to argue about what's technically included. Like I had a client try to claim "responsive design" meant tablet, phone, and smartwatch layouts because I listed it in bullet points. Now I just say "mobile friendly" and move on. Nobody wins in a scope war, you just spend time defending words instead of doing work.
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knight.uma2mo ago
@garcia.wren nailed it, they act like it's a binding legal doc the second you write it down. I wasted years trying to perfect those things and clients still came back with "well you didn't mention this tiny edge case." The real trick is just picking a hard dollar amount and a rough time frame upfront and telling them that's where the line is. Extra work means more money on top or they get what they paid for. Nobody reads those ten page documents anyway, they just skim the price tag and the deadline.
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craig.olivia2mo ago
Exactly. Scope creep happens regardless of how detailed you get. Keep it simple with a flat rate and a deadline, then charge hourly for anything extra. Clients respect a firm boundary more than a detailed document anyway.
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