Beat the Company Brain

Hi Jen,

Thanks again for yesterday. Confirming what we agreed:

Launch by October 9, the day before your fall catalog.

Two rounds of design revisions.

A one-hour training session for your team after launch.

The SOW is attached. Hana will send first designs on September 4.

Tom

Hi Jen, round 1 is on the staging site. Homepage, shop page and product page.

Leave comments right on the pages.

Round 1 feedback is in. Bigger product photos, and the filters need to show up on mobile.

Otherwise we love it.

Round 2 is up. Bigger photos, and the filters now work on phones.

Round 2 looks great. Approved, go build it.

Hi Aisha, payment for #1036 (design approval) went out this morning. Thanks!

acmeoutdoor.example is live. That's a day early.

Filters, checkout and the catalog pages all checked on desktop and phone.

Thanks Hana, Ben and Tom.

Hi Jen, congrats on the launch.

Attached is invoice #1040 for $16,000, the final installment.

It's due November 7.

The size filter was hiding boots in half sizes. Fixed and deployed.

Hi Tom,

When can we do the training session you promised? My team keeps getting stuck on the new filters.

Any day next week works.

Jen is asking about the training. Can you run it next week? I'm out Tuesday and Wednesday.

Bad news. Our large-format press broke this morning.

Your six Bluebird boards will ship October 16 instead of October 13.

Hi Gail,

Our printer's press broke, so the boards will arrive October 16, two days late.

I'm sorry. I know we promised the 14th.

This is the second date you've missed.

I'm pausing the retainer after October unless Rosa calls me this week.

Can you call Gail today? She wants to hear from you, not me.

I drafted an apology email below. Change whatever you want before it goes out.

Her mobile is in the client sheet.

Online booking is live on Harbor Dental's site.

It took the six hours we estimated on the call.

Hi Carla,

Attached is invoice #1037 for $3,600: 24 hours at $150.

It's due October 30.

We approved 18 hours. Where did the other six come from?

Nobody sent us anything in writing about extra work.

Sam says Dr. Lin OK'd the booking widget on the September 15 call.

But we never sent a change order.

Do we credit the $900 or hold firm? Your call. I'll reply to Carla once you decide.

Could you do a label for our winter blend? Small job, same style as the fall one.

Hi Omar,

Invoice #1032 for $2,250 was due September 27 and is now 15 days late.

Could you take a look?

Sorry, that one slipped. I'll pay it Friday.

Hi Dev, here's September.

We used 26 of your 30 hours.

The other 4 roll over, so you have 34 hours in October.

The savings campaign is our best month for new accounts this year. Thank you all.

Dev sent the brief for the holiday campaign.

He wants it live November 20. Kickoff is October 21.

Hi Rosa, Omar at Kiln Coffee said you rebuilt their site.

We need a new website for Juniper Health. Can we talk next week?

Any update on the revised proposal?

You'll have it October 20.

v2 is in the drive: $36,000, five landing pages, launch February 12.

I need your OK by October 19 so it goes to Owen on the 20th.

Starting October 1, your plan will cost $900 per month.

No action is needed to keep your service.

Brightline went down again last night. That's the third outage this month.

Acme's staging site was down during their review yesterday.

I opened a ticket. No answer yet.

Thanks for your patience. The issue has been resolved.

Here's the agreement we discussed: $520 per month for all 14 sites.

Signed and attached.

All 14 client sites are on Tidewater. Nothing went down.

Aisha, you can cancel Brightline.

Brightline is cancelled. September was our last bill.

From January 1, our hourly rate goes from $150 to $165.

Retainers stay at their current rate until they renew.

The rate card in the drive has the details. Please don't quote the old rate on new work.

The draft letter to clients about the new rates is attached.

I need your OK by October 23 so every client has it before November 13.

The Q3 report is in Finance / Reports.

Short version: best quarter so far.

September expenses are due Monday, October 5. Receipts or it didn't happen.

Hi Aisha, invoice for the Northpoint copy attached. $1,200.

Paid. Thanks Mateo.

Hi Ines, your offer letter is attached.

Signed and attached. See you November 2!

Ordered Ines's laptop today. It arrives October 21.

Hana, you're her buddy for the first month.

The holiday party is Friday, December 11, at 6 PM at the studio.

Plus-ones welcome. Tell me about allergies by December 1.

Tacos again? Reply by 11 with your order.

Starting next week, my 1:1s move from Thursdays to Fridays. Same times.

The one from the big meeting room is gone again. Please bring it back.

This week: pitch decks, pricing pages and why your case studies are too long.

The parking garage is closed all day October 20 for repainting.

Entries for this year's Pixel Awards close October 30.

Should we enter the Acme site once it's live?

Your order of 2 boxes of sticky notes and 1 whiteboard has shipped.

Lena Ortiz: We're a grocery co-op with 3 stores. Our website is from 2017, and members can't order online.

Lena Ortiz: We want online ordering for pickup, and a site that doesn't look like 2017.

Rosa Delgado: Who runs the site day to day?

Lena Ortiz: Two of us, and neither is technical. We need to post the weekly specials ourselves.

Lena Ortiz: Our spring member drive starts March 1. It has to be live before that.

Lena Ortiz: Our budget is around $25,000.

Lena Ortiz: Anything over $20,000 goes to our board. They meet November 19.

Tom Becker: We built product filters and checkout for Acme Outdoor this fall. Same idea.

Tom Becker: Ballpark, that's about 160 hours of work.

Lena Ortiz: Send me a proposal I can take to the board.

Rosa Delgado: You'll have it by Monday.

Tom Becker: Thanks for making the time, Jen. Let's lock the plan.

Jen Alvarez: Our fall catalog drops October 10, so the site has to be live before that.

Tom Becker: We'll launch by October 9.

Jen Alvarez: And I want two rounds on the designs. Our last agency gave us one.

Hana Sato: Two rounds is standard for us.

Jen Alvarez: Can someone train my team on the new store after launch?

Tom Becker: Yes. We'll do a one-hour training session once it's live.

Leo Martins: I'll set up staging this week so you can follow along.

Jen Alvarez: Perfect. Send me the recap and the SOW.

Rosa Delgado: First thing, hosting. Leo, where did you land?

Leo Martins: Brightline went down three times in August. Acme's staging site was down during their review on the 26th.

Leo Martins: And they're raising us from $640 to $900 a month on October 1.

Aisha Rahman: Tidewater quoted $520 a month for all 14 sites.

Rosa Delgado: So we pay less and stop apologizing to clients. Let's switch.

Leo Martins: I'll have everything moved before October 1.

Aisha Rahman: I'll cancel Brightline once Leo confirms.

Sam Whitaker: Harbor Dental's refresh starts next week, 18 hours budgeted.

Rosa Delgado: Good. And let's make the designer offer to Ines this month.

Sam Whitaker: The homepage and services pages are in good shape. We're on track for the 18 hours.

Dr. Amy Lin: Could you add online booking? Patients keep calling to book.

Sam Whitaker: We can add a booking widget. That's about six extra hours.

Dr. Amy Lin: Sure, go ahead.

Sam Whitaker: Great, I'll get started this week.

Carla Reyes: Send the invoice to me, not Dr. Lin.

Aisha Rahman: We haven't changed our rates in two years, and our costs are up.

Rosa Delgado: Let's go to $165 an hour starting January.

Tom Becker: Retainer clients will hate a jump in the middle of their contract.

Rosa Delgado: Then retainers keep their rate until they renew.

Aisha Rahman: I'll update the rate card and draft the letter to clients.

Rosa Delgado: Every client hears it from us in writing by November 13.

Tom Becker: I'll tell Northpoint myself. They renew in January.

Owen Grant: Our board meets February 24. I want to show them the new site live.

Rosa Delgado: Then we launch by February 12, so there's some slack.

Owen Grant: We also need a landing page for each clinic service. Five of them.

Tom Becker: That changes the scope from our first proposal. I'll send a revised one.

Owen Grant: Our budget is around $35,000 to $40,000.

Rosa Delgado: That works for what you're describing.

Gail Moreno: The menu boards were supposed to be in all six shops last Friday.

Hana Sato: The final files went to the printer late. That's on us.

Tom Becker: You'll have all six boards by October 14.

Gail Moreno: If that date slips, I'm pausing the retainer.

Tom Becker: Understood. It won't slip.

Hana Sato: I'll send the new proofs today.

1. Scope. Each project's deliverables are listed in its statement of work (SOW).

2. Fees. Hourly work is billed at the rate in the current Fernhill rate card.

3. Revisions. Each design deliverable includes two rounds of revisions.

Extra rounds are billed at the hourly rate.

4. Changes. Work outside the SOW needs a written change order, approved by the client before work starts.

5. Payment. Invoices are due 30 days after they're sent.

Invoices more than 15 days late accrue 1.5% interest per month.

6. Ownership. The client owns final deliverables once paid in full.

7. Termination. Either side can end the agreement with 30 days' written notice.

Client: Acme Outdoor. Contact: Jen Alvarez.

Scope: rebuild acmeoutdoor.example on the new store platform, with product filters on every shop page.

Fee: $48,000, fixed.

Paid in three installments of $16,000: at signing, at design approval and at launch.

Launch: by October 9, 2026.

Includes two rounds of design revisions.

Includes a one-hour training session for Acme's team after launch.

Fernhill lead: Tom Becker. Design: Hana Sato. Development: Leo Martins.

Client: Harbor Dental. Contacts: Dr. Amy Lin, Carla Reyes.

Scope: refresh the homepage, services pages and team page.

Budget: 18 hours at $150 per hour ($2,700).

Anything outside this scope needs a written change order (MSA section 4).

Fernhill lead: Sam Whitaker.

Client: Northpoint Credit Union. Contact: Dev Patel.

Retainer: 30 hours of design and development per month.

Price: $4,200 per month.

Unused hours roll over to the next month only, then expire.

Fernhill sends an hours report by the 5th of each month.

Term: 12 months. Renews January 12, 2027.

Status: draft. Needs Rosa's approval before it goes to Juniper.

Client: Juniper Health. Contact: Owen Grant, marketing director.

Scope: new website and five patient landing pages.

Price: $36,000, fixed.

Timeline: 10 weeks. Starts November 9 if signed by October 30.

Launch: by February 12, 2027.

Team: Tom Becker (lead), Hana Sato (design), Leo Martins (development).

Changes from v1: dropped the blog redesign, added two landing pages.

Every proposal has five parts: what we heard, what we'll build, timeline, price and next steps.

Open with the client's own words, not ours. No jargon.

Fixed price, paid in three installments: at signing, at design approval and at launch.

Always include two rounds of design revisions and a training session for the client's team.

Plan to launch two weeks before any hard deadline.

Rosa signs every proposal.

Revenue: $598,400, up 10.6% from Q2 ($541,000).

Biggest single project billed: Acme Outdoor, $32,000 (two of three installments).

Team utilization: 78% (target 75%).

Hosting: $640 per month on Brightline through September. Tidewater from October at $520 per month.

Overdue invoices at quarter end: one, Kiln Coffee #1032.

Headcount: 18. One designer hired, starting November 2.

We host 14 client sites. Brightline's contract renews October 1.

Brightline: $900 per month from October 1 (was $640). Three outages in August. Support took two days to answer the last ticket.

Tidewater Cloud: $520 per month for all 14 sites. 99.95% uptime guarantee. Support answers within an hour.

Stackyard: $480 per month. No staging sites, so every client preview would need a workaround.

Recommendation: move to Tidewater before October 1.

Hourly rate: $165, up from $150.

Effective January 1, 2027.

Retainers keep their current rate until their renewal date.

Fixed-fee projects signed before January 1 keep 2026 pricing.

Every client gets the new rates in writing by November 13.

1. Order the laptop two weeks before day one.

2. Create email, chat and design tool accounts the week before.

3. Pick a buddy from the same team for the first month.

4. Book a team lunch in week one.

5. Walk through the handbook on day one.

Everyone gets 20 days of paid time off a year, plus office closures.

The office is closed November 26 and 27 for Thanksgiving.

The office is closed December 24 through January 1.

Ask your project manager before booking more than five days in a row.

Rosa Delgado: Founder and creative director

Tom Becker: Head of client services

Aisha Rahman: Operations and finance

Leo Martins: Lead developer

Hana Sato: Senior designer

Sam Whitaker: Project manager

Nadia Kowalski: Content lead

Ben Osei: Developer

Chloe Park: Designer

Marcus Hill: Account manager

Plus 8 more across design, development and accounts.

Joining soon: Ines Ferreira, Designer, starting Nov 2.

Go through v2 before it goes to Owen on the 20th.

Out Tuesday and Wednesday. Back Thursday, October 22.

Agree on the holiday campaign plan. It goes live November 20.

Walk through the refresh. Invoice #1037 is still open.

Pipeline, Bluebird, Q4 hiring.

Back-to-back 30-minute 1:1s. Now on Fridays.

Aisha sends the letter to every client after this.

Hana meets her at 9. Team lunch at noon.

Closed Thursday and Friday.

Plus-ones welcome.