The dreaded client change…there’s no sugar-coating it, this can be a pain in the rear of your graphic design business.
If not managed correctly, client changes not only affect your motivation and self-esteem as a designer, it impacts your financial bottom line and your work-life balance.
What’s up with this creepy scope creep?
Sometimes called scope creep, this is where clients ask for changes that are above and beyond the original quote, and graphic designers obligingly make the changes…for free!
Scope creep has got a sinister-sounding name for a reason. And it can sneaky sneak into your business projects without you even realising it.
We always like to compare graphic design to other professions—because graphic design is a grand profession and you are worthy of being paid very well for your valuable time, creative secret sauce and intellectual property.
You wouldn’t expect to get your accountant to prepare your annual return and say ‘While you’re at it, can you also create me a budget for the new year?’
You would expect to pay extra, right? Of course you would.
But for some reasons, graphic designers (lovely graphic designers, we love you) tend to cop this on the chin and will move heaven and earth to make the changes that clients ask for, without being properly renumerated in the process.
In this episode we discuss:
- Examples of scope creep (some are not so obvious and a bit sneaky!)
- Problems that can occur when clients request changes
- Ways you can minimise changes from happening
- Red flags to watch out for
- How to set firm boundaries (also see free scripts below!)
- How to make sure you get paid when the changes happen (again, our scripts will help!)
