How I keep SaaS projects within budget

The simple truth about keeping projects on budget

I keep SaaS projects within budget by doing one very simple thing: I only ever offer fixed-price quotes on product builds. This is crucial because a lot of freelancers, agencies and offshore teams quote hourly rates and give estimates. There are significant problems with hourly billing that can derail your project and budget.

Why hourly billing is a budget trap

First and foremost, nobody knows how long a project will actually take. Not you, not the freelancer, not the agency, not the offshore team. That's why it's called an estimate, not a guarantee.

Many development teams will lowball their estimates to win the work. Three months later, you're nowhere near finished and going massively over budget. This becomes a trap - do you cut the project short and lose all your investment, or keep going and sink unknown costs into it?

Software projects can be "nearly done" for weeks. It's remarkably easy to get burnt when you don't have cost certainty. The psychological pressure of watching hourly costs mount up whilst features remain incomplete is something I've seen destroy many promising projects.

How fixed pricing protects your investment

With my approach, the price I quote is the price you pay - not a penny more. Sometimes the timeline might shift slightly (I typically say 8 to 12 weeks, sometimes it's 7, sometimes 13), but the cost never fluctuates. This gives you complete financial certainty to plan your business around.

The fixed price model protects both of us. You get budget certainty and protection from scope creep costs. I get clear project boundaries and can focus on delivery rather than time tracking. It's a partnership built on transparency and mutual benefit.

Managing scope for success

The only consideration with fixed-price projects is that we need to be specific upfront about what we're building. With hourly billing, you can request new features and changes freely - but you'll pay accordingly. With fixed pricing, the cost is based on our initial proposal.

I build in reasonable flexibility for slight variations that improve the product. However, massive new feature requests will naturally change the price. This constraint is actually beneficial - it keeps us focused on delivering the core value proposition rather than getting distracted by "nice to have" features.

The MVP approach to cost control

My preferred approach is building a Version 1, also known as an MVP (Minimum Viable Product). This gets a working product with commercial value live in the world, without adding every bell and whistle. We focus ruthlessly on the features that deliver core value to users.

For enhancement ideas that arise during development, I create separate proposals and quotes for Version 1.1, 1.5, or 2.0. This staged approach:

• Keeps initial costs under control
• Ensures we actually launch something to market
• Allows validation before further investment
• Provides natural budget breakpoints

Why this works better than alternatives

I've seen too many projects fail through poor budget management. Hourly billing creates perverse incentives - developers benefit from projects taking longer. Fixed pricing aligns our interests - I'm incentivised to deliver efficiently.

This approach has helped my clients launch successful SaaS products without the budget blowouts that plague the industry. They get certainty, predictability, and most importantly - a product that actually ships. It's particularly effective when combined with my approach to minimising development waste.

The fixed-price model isn't just about controlling costs. It's about creating the right environment for successful product development. When you're not worried about mounting hourly costs, you can focus on what matters: building something users love.