01
Fixed-scope build
One project, one number, agreed up front. Best when the client has already signed and the scope is real.
Quoted per build
White-label delivery
You keep the client.
I build the thing.
If you sell AI automation, internal tools or custom software and you do not want the fixed cost of an engineering team, this is the arrangement. You own the relationship, the pricing and the invoice. I own the build, the deadline, and the phone call when something breaks.
How it runs
Four stages, and
who owes what.
- 01
You send the scope
A call, a Loom, a Notion page, or a forwarded client email. Whatever you already have. I do not need a spec; I need to know what the client is actually trying to stop doing by hand.
- You bring
- Scope, deadline, and whether the client has technical people in the room
- I bring
- A written estimate and a list of what I think will go wrong
- 02
I quote fixed, you mark it up
One number, agreed before I start, that does not move unless you change the scope in writing. What you charge on top of it is your business and I never ask.
- You bring
- A yes, and a repo or a place to put one
- I bring
- Fixed price, fixed dates, and the assumptions the price rests on
- 03
I build inside your process
Your tracker, your branch naming, your review process, your standup if you want me in it. I am not going to ask you to adopt my tooling for one project.
- You bring
- Access, and one person I can ask questions
- I bring
- Working software on a schedule, and a message the day anything slips
- 04
You hand it over. I stay reachable.
Handover documentation written for whoever maintains it next, which is usually not me. Then a defined support window, and a rate for after it.
- You bring
- Sign-off
- I bring
- Docs, a runbook, and a person who answers when it breaks
Ways to work
Three shapes.
02
Retained days
A block of days a month against your pipeline. Best when you have a run of small builds and want someone who already knows your codebase.
Monthly, minimum three months
03
Rescue
Something is half-built, late, or broken and the client is asking questions. I read the code first and tell you honestly whether it is worth saving.
Paid audit first, then a decision
The awkward questions
Answered before
you have to ask.
Will my client ever find out you exist?
Not from me. No credit, no portfolio entry, no backlink, no signature in a footer. Anything from a white-label build appears on this site only with your written sign-off, which is why the case studies here are my own direct clients.
Can you talk to my client directly?
If you want me to, yes: under your name, on your domain email, in your meeting. Plenty of agencies prefer I stay entirely behind them. Both work; decide before the kickoff, not during it.
What if the project goes over?
If it goes over because I underestimated, that is mine and the price stands. If it goes over because the scope changed, I tell you the day it happens, with a number attached. You should never be surprised by an invoice you cannot pass on.
What do you not do?
Native mobile from scratch, brand identity, and anything where I would be the only person who understands it and there is no plan for that. I will say so on the first call rather than three weeks in.
Where are you, and does that matter?
IST · UTC+5:30. In practice I overlap a full working day with Europe and a few hours with the US east coast. If your client needs someone in their timezone at 4pm their time, say so early.
Send me the next
one you nearly turned down.
The build you passed on because it needed an engineer you do not have is the one to send. Tell me the scope and the deadline and you will have a number back the same day.