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Tomas Hedvik had been freelancing in Dublin for two years before he accepted that his projects were consistently finishing over the hours he had quoted. The work was good. The cost discipline was not.
What causes most cost overruns in small projects?
Scope creep is the most common cause. Tomas tracked his last eight projects and found that six of them had included work that was not in the original brief. Clients added revision rounds, requested format changes, or expanded deliverables mid-project, and Tomas absorbed those hours rather than flagging them.
Should I use a detailed or rough estimate when quoting?
Detailed estimates take longer to prepare but reduce misalignment significantly. Tomas shifted to itemised quotes that listed each deliverable, the number of included revisions, and what would trigger an additional charge. His dispute rate dropped to near zero after that change.
How do I track costs during a project, not just at the end?
Tomas started logging hours daily using Toggl, then checking weekly whether he was within his quoted range. Catching overruns at 40% completion gave him time to have a conversation with the client. Catching them at 95% left no good options.
What is a contingency buffer and how large should it be?
A contingency buffer is a percentage added to your estimate to absorb unexpected work. Tomas settled on 15% for new clients and 8% for returning ones based on his own historical data.