Deep Dive
Pricing, Boundaries, and Why I Don't Sell Time
How I price work — and why that protects both sides.
How I price work — and why that protects both sides
Not Just Money
Pricing determines how a problem is approached.
Pricing is never just about money.
It determines:
- How a problem is approached
- Who takes responsibility
- Whether systems are allowed to carry weight
- Whether work compounds or collapses into firefighting
I've learned this by pricing things incorrectly for years.
This document exists to explain why I price the way I do, and why that's necessary for the kind of work I do now.
Why Hourly Breaks Systems Work
Hourly pricing rewards prolonged involvement and dependence.
Why hourly pricing breaks systems work.
Hourly pricing assumes:
- The problem is known
- The scope is stable
- Progress is linear
- Value correlates with time spent
In systems work, none of that is true.
Most of the value happens:
- Before execution
- In constraint-setting
- In what never breaks
- In decisions that prevent future work
Hourly pricing rewards:
- Prolonged involvement
- Ongoing interpretation
- Heroics
- Dependence
Those are the exact things systems are meant to remove.
If the goal is to reduce dependency, pricing must reflect that.
What You're Actually Paying For
You're paying for something that continues working after I step away.
What you're actually paying for.
When you work with me, you're not paying for:
- Availability
- Effort
- Advice
- Or my time
You're paying for:
- A system being installed
- A specific failure mode being addressed
- Reduced dependency on one person
- Something that continues working after I step away
If nothing changes after the work is done, the price was wrong — regardless of how low it was.
Scoped and Time-Bound
If everything is flexible, nothing is reliable.
Why work is scoped and time-bound.
Open-ended work creates:
- Blurred responsibility
- Endless exceptions
- Decision drift
- Quiet dependency
That's why every engagement I accept is:
- Clearly scoped
- Time-bound
- Focused on one operational domain
This isn't about rigidity.
It's about making sure a system can actually carry weight.
If everything is flexible, nothing is reliable.
Pricing Structure
I keep pricing intentionally simple.
Typical pricing structure (plainly).
I keep pricing intentionally simple.
System installation
A fixed-price engagement to install one operational system.
- Clear start
- Clear end
- Clear handoff
- No ongoing dependency
This usually ranges from €3,000 to €10,000, depending on scope and risk.
If that range feels uncomfortable, it's usually a sign that:
- The pain isn't real yet
- Or the work isn't actually systems work
System infrastructure (ongoing)
Some systems rely on maintained logic, updates, or software.
In those cases, pricing shifts to:
- A monthly or annual subscription
- Covering correctness, updates, and continuity
- Not support or ad-hoc help
This is where compounding happens — quietly.
Advisory (rare)
Advisory work exists, but it's:
- Gated
- Time-limited
- Non-urgent
- Strategy-only
If execution is still required, advisory is premature.
Why I Say No
Saying no isn't a preference. It's a requirement for systems to work.
Why I say no more than I say yes.
Saying no isn't a preference.
It's a requirement for systems to work.
I will usually decline work when:
- The mandate is vague
- The expectation is ongoing help
- Constraints are resisted
- Everything is treated as an exception
- The goal is speed, not stability
This isn't about exclusivity.
It's about not breaking the work by accepting the wrong conditions.
After Installation
My goal is not to stay involved. It's to become unnecessary.
What happens after a system is installed.
This is important.
After a system is installed:
- My involvement should decrease
- Questions should reduce
- Decisions should speed up
- Errors should surface earlier
If the opposite happens, the system isn't finished.
My goal is not to stay involved.
It's to become unnecessary.
Thinking About Fit
Do I want help — or do I want something that stops depending on me?
A simple way to think about fit.
Before reaching out, ask yourself:
Do I want someone to help me — or do I want something that stops depending on me?
If the answer is help, I'm not a fit.
If the answer is the second, we'll probably work well.
Why This Matters
Pricing is not a negotiation tactic. It's a design choice.
Why this matters.
Pricing is not a negotiation tactic here.
It's a design choice.
It determines:
- Whether systems are allowed to work
- Whether chaos is reinforced or reduced
- Whether outcomes compound or decay
I price work so that systems can carry responsibility — not so that I have to.