The line that causes disputes
Every care plan includes some time for changes: an hour a month, four, ten. Owners read that as "I can ask for things". Studios read it as "small things". The gap between those two readings is where the relationship sours: the owner asks for a new page and is told it is a project; the studio spends two hours on "a quick change" and swallows it or bills it.
The fix is to define the line before anyone crosses it. Here is where we draw it, with examples, so there is nothing to argue about later.
What a small change is
A small change alters something that already exists on the site, in a way the site is already built to handle. Someone with the admin login and half an hour could do it. Examples:
- Changing a price, a service description, or a staff member's bio.
- Adding a new staff member to the team page and the booking system.
- Updating opening hours, including holiday hours.
- Swapping a photo, or adding a few to an existing gallery.
- Adding a seasonal banner or a notice to the home page.
- Fixing a typo, updating a phone number, correcting an address.
- Adding a new FAQ entry, or a new item to an existing list.
- Publishing a blog post you have written.
- Adjusting a booking setting: a buffer, a deposit amount, a reminder time.
All of these fit inside an hour, most inside fifteen minutes, and none changes the shape of the site.
What a project is
A project adds something the site does not have, or changes how something works. It needs design decisions, testing, or more than an hour of concentrated work. Examples:
- A new page type: a case studies section, a location page for a new branch.
- A new feature: gift vouchers, a waitlist, a second language.
- Changing the booking system, or integrating a new one.
- A redesign of any section, even a small one.
- New copy for a page from scratch, as opposed to editing existing copy.
- A campaign landing page.
- Anything involving a new plugin or integration.
- Migrating hosting or domain.
Projects are quoted as fixed prices before they start. They are not deducted from included hours, because doing so would either exhaust the hours in one go or leave the project half done.
The grey zone
Some requests sit between. A new page that reuses an existing template with content you supply: probably a change, if it is one page. Five of them: a project. Rewriting a page's copy: a change if it is light editing, a project if it is new writing. A new photo gallery: a change if the gallery feature exists, a project if it does not.
The test we use: could this be done in under an hour using what the site already has, with no design decisions? Yes is a change. No is a project. When it is genuinely unclear, we say so and give a number before starting, so there are no surprises.
When the hours run out
Included hours do not roll over indefinitely, and they do not need to: an owner who consistently needs more than their plan includes is on the wrong plan. What should happen:
- You are told when you are close, not billed silently past the limit.
- Additional time is offered at a stated rate, or the next tier is suggested if it keeps happening. The next tier is usually cheaper than buying extra hours every month.
- Nothing is charged without agreement.
A plan that bills overages quietly is a plan designed around overages.
Making the included time go further
Batch requests. Five small changes in one message take less total time than five messages over a week, because each message has setup and context cost.
Send finished content. The exact text, the final photo, the correct price. A change that arrives as "can you update the prices, I'll send them later" uses time twice.
Learn the two or three edits you make most. The recorded walkthrough at handover covers prices, hours and photos precisely so those never need a request at all. Owners who change their own prices save the included hour for things that need a developer.
Ask what is a change before assuming. A quick "is this a change or a project?" saves the awkward conversation afterwards.
How ours works
Basic includes an hour a month, Growth four, Scale ten. The examples above are the definition we use, it is stated on the care plan page, and the FAQ there covers the unused-time question. The aim is that neither side is ever surprised by an invoice, which is most of what a care plan is for.