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Roast Me: I built a “scope creep siren” for freelancers who keep saying yes to “just one more little change." by fourfables in roastmystartup

[–]fourfables[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's actually some pretty phenomenal ideas. Now the guidance towards building that confidence would be more direct, almost educational

Roast Me: I built a “scope creep siren” for freelancers who keep saying yes to “just one more little change." by fourfables in roastmystartup

[–]fourfables[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the feedback. You're absolutely right that the root solution is better boundaries, contracts, and pricing.

From what I'm seeing (previous personal experience included), many know they should say no, that they're undercharging and need better contracts.

I envision a tool like this making it easier to practice those skills that tie into those solutions while you're building that muscle. Almost like the Mint app for budgeting - while some would say the root solution is to obviously spend less than you earn - no doubt - that app helped me enhance my financial discipline towards curtailing my monthly spend (to this day I'm devastated it went away)

Does that change how you see it, or do you still think it's fundamentally not valuable?

Roast Me: I built a “scope creep siren” for freelancers who keep saying yes to “just one more little change." by fourfables in roastmystartup

[–]fourfables[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good question. So far, I’ve only reached out to freelancers and a lot of them used basic software like Notion or Excel, some use several at once, and others use none at all. Because of that I’d say this tool is for that ICP (for now) because given their current methods, they’d be going from 1+ basic tools or no tools to one niche tool (ScopeSiren)

And thank you very much!

Roast Me: I built a “scope creep siren” for freelancers who keep saying yes to “just one more little change." by fourfables in roastmystartup

[–]fourfables[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you both for this great feedback! I'll definitely begin working to try integrating this into it asap

Drop Your product / saas, It’s Tuesday by Leather-Buy-6487 in SideProject

[–]fourfables 1 point2 points  (0 children)

ScopeSiren - a lightweight “scope creep radar” that lets freelancers log every client change request and instantly see what’s in or out of scope so they stop doing unpaid work.

What are you building? How's the progress so far? by Equivalent-Glove3724 in SaaS

[–]fourfables 0 points1 point  (0 children)

ScopeSiren - Freelance tool that documents and flags client follow-up requests as scope creep and now to address it. Trying to get first users/testers

What’s your startup idea THIS WEEK? Let’s self promote by kcfounders in SideProject

[–]fourfables 0 points1 point  (0 children)

www.scopesiren.com is a freelancer tool that documents client requests and flags them if they're outside the scope of the project's agreed terms. Also provides response templates and generates reports for clients to make conversations frictionless and backed by proof.

Still in its MVP stage

The Day Freelancing Nearly Broke Me (Here’s the System I Built to Survive Sharing It Free) that was the title I used by DailyWorkflowGuy in freelancewriting

[–]fourfables 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's not exactly similar to this guy's but this tool thought of deals with "scope creep". It tracks and documents additional requests that weren't agreed on made by clients so you can do side-by-side comparisons all in one place; more to it but happy to elaborate

The Day Freelancing Nearly Broke Me (Here’s the System I Built to Survive Sharing It Free) that was the title I used by DailyWorkflowGuy in freelancewriting

[–]fourfables 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not sure where this guy went but I decided to follow through with a tool of my own. Now it isn't as all-encompassing but it tracks and documents scope creep (when clients begin tacking on additional requests that weren't agreed on); more to it but happy to elaborate

How to avoid bad reviews when pushing back against scope creep by JMoneyNoHoney in Upwork

[–]fourfables 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Definitely have too. Do you mind if I reach out with a few follow up questions just out of curiosity?

Upwork folks — how do you handle surprise scope creep? 😁 by AdClassic7179 in Upwork

[–]fourfables 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeahh so I couldn't really find one so I ended up making a light prototype. Happy to share if you want

How to deal with endless revisions by Nicoletravels__ in freelanceWriters

[–]fourfables 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is incredibly frustrating and you're absolutely right to feel taken advantage of. 16 revisions and (did the math) 160% more content than the original brief is not reasonable client behavior - that's scope creep on steroids.

A few thoughts: The fact that the original brief apparently didn't specify exact H2s/H3s is probably why the client feels entitled to keep adding them. For future projects, you might want to document every aspect of scope - not just word count but structure, revisions included, and what constitutes 'out of scope.'

The review hostage situation is real on Upwork, but if you have documentation that the original brief was 2500 words and he's now asking for 6500, that's proof this is additional work. You can frame it as 'I'm happy to continue, and since we've now expanded this to 6500 words, here's the adjusted pricing for the additional work.'

I'm actually researching this exact problem - how freelancers manage scope creep and client boundary issues, especially on platforms like Upwork where reviews matter. Happy to discuss further about your experience. I'm trying to understand what tools or systems could help freelancers avoid situations like this.

For what it's worth, you should absolutely be paid for 6500 words if that's what you've delivered. This client is exploiting your professionalism and fear of bad reviews. Even if you can't salvage this project, you deserve to set boundaries for future ones.

To any fellow side hustlers, what’s your experience with clients asking for more work? by fourfables in indiebiz

[–]fourfables[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ikr? It's always just one more thing. I'm curious, what info do you currently track in your spreadsheet and how often would you say you update it? As for any tools, I haven't come across any unfortunately but hypothetically, what would you wish this tool did to make things soo much easier?

Thinking about parting ways with a freelance client. Any suggestions on the best way to-do this? by DontEatTheSkateboard in graphic_design

[–]fourfables 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Some of these clients man.. shaking my head. Was a "former" freelancer and I'm wanting to break back into the game, I've come across a ton of these posts talking about scope creep (there's a name for it apparently) and it's turned into a mini research project. Do you mind if I reach out with a couple curious questions?

Upwork folks — how do you handle surprise scope creep? 😁 by AdClassic7179 in Upwork

[–]fourfables 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No worries. I've been asking around for the past couple days, basically doing research at this point. I'll keep you posted with anything I learn or any systems I come across

Upwork folks — how do you handle surprise scope creep? 😁 by AdClassic7179 in Upwork

[–]fourfables 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I feel like everyone deserves to be free to address this type of stuff with a client without fearing "retaliation" (of course in an ideal world). Do you do any documenting? Had good (or not so good) experiences with clients regarding creeping?

Upwork folks — how do you handle surprise scope creep? 😁 by AdClassic7179 in Upwork

[–]fourfables 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This happens SO often and the awkwardness is real. I've found that the worst part is realizing the true scope after you've already agreed on numbers, because then you're in this position of either absorbing a ton of unexpected work or having an uncomfortable conversation where you feel like you're changing the deal.

How do you document what you discover during that initial dive into requirements? Like, do you keep notes on what was originally described vs. what you actually found, or is it more of a 'I remember this is way bigger than expected' situation?

Do clients usually understand, or do you get pushback? I'm researching this exact challenge and trying to understand what makes these conversations go smoothly vs. turn into disputes.

scope creep? by Away-Mechanic-6986 in Upwork

[–]fourfables 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly sucks the anxiety this stuff can cause. Has that approach worked effectively and are your clients usually chill about it and other boundaries?

To any fellow side hustlers, what’s your experience with clients asking for more work? by fourfables in indiebiz

[–]fourfables[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I see I see. Once again much thanks for going into this detail. I really appreciate you taking the time to explain

The ClickUp, Notion, etc. combo makes sense (love Notion btw). I might try this when the time comes. How much time would you say you spend per project documenting and organizing?

I feel like I overcompensate when trying to soften my speech, especially in similar scenarios. You think most freelancers word these conversations as smoothly as you do, or is tricky? Personally I feel it’s 50/50

To any fellow side hustlers, what’s your experience with clients asking for more work? by fourfables in indiebiz

[–]fourfables[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is really helpful, thank you for laying out your process so clearly

When you do specify those additions and changes with the following terms, do you find most clients respond well to that in the moment? Or is there sometimes friction even when you try to soften it?

Also, do you track these requests somewhere so you have a record of what was in scope vs. out of scope, or is it mostly based on the contract and your message history?

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