How We Work
How we work
Pick the arrangement that suits your shop
Some jobs want a price on the door. Some want a regular pair of hands. Pick the arrangement that suits your shop, and if you can't tell which that is, that's what the first conversation is for.
Every business buys help differently. A one-off problem wants a fixed price and a finish date. A moving target wants someone on call. A team that's stretched wants an extra pair of hands in the room. We work all of these ways, and we'll tell you honestly which one fits, including when the answer is the cheapest one.
Whichever you choose, the first conversation is free, and nothing starts until you've seen what it covers and what it costs.
At a glance
Five ways to work together
Fixed-price projectYou get: a defined result by a set date.
You pay: one agreed price.
You commit to: the scope we agreed.
Read more Fixed-price project
ConsultingYou get: advice and a plan.
You pay: by the session or day.
You commit to: nothing beyond the session.
Read more Consulting
ContractingYou get: extra hands in your team.
You pay: a day rate.
You commit to: an agreed stretch of days.
Read more Contracting
RetainerYou get: ongoing care and a regular rhythm.
You pay: a monthly fee.
You commit to: 30 days' notice to stop.
Read more Retainer
Performance-basedYou get: a shared stake in the result.
You pay: a share, agreed up front.
You commit to: a longer partnership.
Read more Performance-based
Fixed price
Fixed-price projects
Best for: a clear job with a clear end, like an audit, a set-up or a rebuild.
You get a price before we start and a description of what's included. If the job turns out bigger than we thought, that's our problem, not yours. If you ask for something outside what we agreed, we'll say so and agree the change before doing it.
- How you pay: a fixed fee, usually in full or in two parts. Most of our packages are on the What We Do pages, with a "From" price where the final figure depends on the size of the job.
- Where it ends: with the thing you paid for, handed over and explained.
Consulting
Consulting
Best for: you know roughly what needs doing but want someone to sort it out first, or you want a second opinion before you spend.
Time with someone who has seen the problem before. A working session, a review of what you've got, a plan you can act on, with or without us. Often the most useful hour is the one that stops you buying the wrong thing.
- How you pay: by the session or by the day, £400.
- Where it ends: when you have the answer. A written summary comes with it.
Contracting
Contracting
Best for: you've got the plan and the people, but not enough hands, or you need a specific skill for a season.
We join your team for an agreed number of days a week, for an agreed stretch, and work the way you work: your tools, your priorities, your stand-ups if you have them. You direct the work; we turn up and do it well.
- How you pay: a day rate of £400, invoiced monthly, with a minimum stretch to be agreed.
- Where it ends: at the date we agreed, or with notice if things change.
Retainer
Retainers and managed services
Best for: ongoing work that never really finishes, like running the shop, the marketing or the automations.
A regular monthly arrangement, so there's someone you can message when something breaks, and someone watching the numbers when it doesn't. It's the "just take care of it" option. Our managed services (Managed eCommerce, Growth Optimisation) and the monthly lines like the Fractional Automation Partner and Competitor Intelligence Briefings work this way.
- How you pay: a monthly fee, in advance, from £100/month depending on what's included. Some retainers start with a one-off set-up fee (the Fractional Automation Partner, for example, is £1,000 to get going, then £500 a month to keep it ticking over).
- Where it ends: whenever you like, with 30 days' written notice. We don't refund a month that has started, and we don't lock you in.
Performance-based
Performance-based
Best for: a brand with a product that's ready to grow and a goal worth sharing in.
For the right brand we'll take on more of the running, and agree a fee that's tied to how it goes, either all or in part. It's custom, it's agreed up front in writing, and it only suits businesses where the numbers make sense for both sides, so we'll say so if they don't.
- How you pay: a revenue share or a mix of fixed and variable, agreed before we start.
Not sure?
Start here
Most people start with a free discovery session, and plenty of them end up with something smaller than they expected. You'll leave with a clear idea of what's needed, what it costs and which of the above fits. If you'd like to go further, we'll write it up. If you wouldn't, you've lost half an hour and gained a clearer plan.
What happens once you say yes
However we work, the shape is much the same
Like any good experiment, we start with a hypothesis and end with measured results.
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Examination
A conversation about your business, your goals and what's currently breaking. You bring the context, we bring the questions.
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Research
We look at the data: your analytics, your listings, your feeds, your funnel. We build the picture of what customers actually do.
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Hypothesis
A plan with priorities. You get a roadmap, not a sales pitch.
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Experiment
We make the changes and track what happens, and we say so when something doesn't work.
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Report
A clear wrap-up of what we tried, what moved and what's next, whether that's a goodbye or a retainer.
Prefer something else? We're flexible
Prefer to co-develop every step? Great. Want to hand over the keys and focus on your product? Also great. We'd rather fit the work to you than squeeze you into a package.
Revenue share, fractional roles, peak-time and maternity cover: we are as flexible as a fully rubberised polymer. Drop us a line and we'll discuss.