Scope creep

Scope creep is one of the most common reasons freelance projects become unprofitable. It starts innocuously — a quick extra revision, one more feature, a small adjustment — and accumulates into hours or days of unpaid work. The best defences are a detailed written scope of work before starting, a clear change request process with agreed pricing, and the confidence to send a change order rather than absorbing the extra work. Every time you say yes to out-of-scope work without charging for it, you are effectively discounting your rate. Track the real hours spent versus estimated and use the difference to improve your next proposal.