Not because the work was hard.
Because I rushed the proposal and priced a guess.
The brief looked simple, the client seemed easygoing, and I wanted the yes. So I sent a number and a delivery date and nothing else. No defined scope. No revision limit. No line about what happens when the brief changes halfway through.
Then the brief changed halfway through. Twice.
Every new request was small on its own. And with nothing in writing, I had no ground to stand on except "but I assumed." You can't invoice an assumption.
So I swallowed it, round after round, and a project I'd budgeted at 8 days ate 32. My effective rate for that month was embarrassing, and the client never even knew there was a problem. Why would he? Every yes was free.
Here's what that project taught me, and it took losing three weeks to learn it:
The proposal is the project. Everything that goes wrong in week six was already missing on page one.
Clear terms aren't paperwork. They're the version of you that shows up before the pressure starts, making the decisions calmly that you'd otherwise make cornered.
I never sent a bare number again.
– Moritz
Tiny tactical tip:
Open your last proposal and check for one sentence: what happens when the scope changes.
If it's not there, write that sentence this week and paste it into your proposal template. One line, and the next "small addition" becomes a conversation instead of free work.