Appreciation post: A client's budget breakdown I saw on a shared screen was a real eye-opener
I was on a video call with a new client last month, going over their project goals, and they accidentally shared their whole screen instead of just the presentation. For about ten seconds, I saw their internal budget spreadsheet. They had a line item for 'creative work' that was about 15% of the total project cost. The rest was for 'platform fees', 'admin', and 'management', which was basically just their own salary. I mean, I always knew agencies marked things up, but seeing the actual numbers, where the person doing the work gets the smallest slice, really got to me. It wasn't even a huge project, maybe a $10k total budget, but that split felt wild. Idk, maybe it's just me, but it made me rethink how I quote my own services now. Has anyone else had a moment like that, where you saw the real math behind a client's ask?