How we work
Scoped projects, fixed prices, a stated end date.
The model is deliberately harder for us to sell and much easier for you to leave.
A free scoping call, about forty minutes
Fixed, with an end date
Done in the open, with weekly updates
Includes what failed
Three stages, and you can stop after the first
A scoping call
A free call, about forty minutes, to work out what the actual problem is. Roughly a third of these end with us saying you do not need an agency.
A written proposal
The outcome, the deliverables, the fixed price and the end date. No options tiers designed to make the middle one look sensible.
The work, in the open
We do the work with a shared document you can read at any point. At the end you get everything, including the things that failed.
Three things we do differently, and why
Each of these costs us money, which is roughly how you know we mean them.
Rates are published
Our day rate and typical project prices are on the services page. An agency that will not name a number until it has qualified your budget is pricing you rather than the work. Publishing ours loses us some enquiries early, which is the point.
The work happens in the open
You get the working document from day one, not a polished reveal in week six. It is messier and occasionally uncomfortable, and nothing lands as a surprise at the end.
We report what failed
Every final report has a section on what did not work and what we would not repeat. Marketing is full of unfalsifiable reporting, and the fastest way to be useful is to tell you when the answer is no.
Four things in every project
Regardless of size, and included in the price.
A real proposal
Outcome, deliverables, price, dates and what is explicitly out of scope. Usually three pages, never thirty.
Weekly updates
Short, written, every week, including the weeks where the honest update is that we are stuck.
Everything handed over
Source files, accounts, documentation and passwords. Nothing is held to make leaving difficult.
A final report
What we did, what happened, what failed and what we would do next. Written to be readable by someone who was not in the room.
Asked on scoping calls
Do you really not do retainers?
We do ongoing work, but as a series of scoped projects with defined outcomes rather than an open-ended monthly fee. If you need a fixed monthly spend for budgeting, we can structure it that way. What we will not do is bill for a month in which nothing agreed was delivered.
Are you not too small for us?
Possibly. Six people cannot run a national broadcast campaign and we will say so rather than subcontract it badly. What we can do is give you the person who did the thinking.
What if we do not like the work?
Say so at the weekly update rather than at the end, and it gets changed. If a project genuinely goes wrong, we will finish it, refund the final stage and part on good terms. That has happened twice and both clients came back.
Who actually does the work?
The people you meet. There is no account layer and no juniors quietly delivering what a director sold. If we need a specialist, we name them and pass their cost through with nothing on top.
Can you guarantee results?
No, and be careful of anyone who does. We can guarantee the deliverables, the dates and the honesty of the reporting. Outcomes depend on your product, your market and a good deal of luck.
Forty minutes, free, and no proposal unless you want one.
A third of these calls end with us recommending you do it in-house.