Thinking about branching out into new offerings, but I’m stuck on how to calculate all the associated costs beforehand.
Right now, I focus on web design, but maintenance packages are on my mind. Besides my time, what else should I consider? There’s got to be more I’m overlooking.
Start with your hourly rate and estimate how much time each maintenance task takes. Don’t forget about tools and software costs if you need new ones.
I always add 20% buffer for unexpected issues because maintenance work can be unpredictable. Also factor in communication time with clients since they’ll have questions and requests.
The stuff everyone mentioned is solid, but here’s what caught me off guard when I added new services:
Time killers nobody talks about:
Hidden costs that sneak up:
I also had to factor in seasonal workload spikes. Maintenance isn’t steady like design work. Some months you’re updating plugins, other months you’re dealing with site crashes.
My advice is to run the numbers for worst case scenarios. What happens if half your maintenance clients need emergency fixes in the same week? Can you still make money?
Start small with maybe 3-5 maintenance clients and track everything for a few months. Real data beats estimates every time.
Insurance might go up if you’re taking on more liability. That’s something people forget about.
I just write down what stuff costs and add extra.
You need to track every subscription and tool cost that comes with maintenance work. Things like uptime monitoring services, security scanners, and backup storage all charge monthly fees that eat into profit if you don’t account for them upfront. I keep a spreadsheet of all these recurring costs and divide by how many clients I can realistically handle. Don’t forget about the extra business license fees some states require when you expand services.
Monthly hosting fees can add up fast when you take on maintenance clients. I learned this the hard way when I started offering similar services.
Each client needs their own backup solution, security monitoring, and sometimes staging environments. That’s easily $15-30 per month per client before you even touch their site.
Then there’s the cost of being available. Maintenance clients expect faster response times than design clients. I had to factor in phone calls, emergency fixes, and weekend work that comes with the territory.
One thing that surprised me was how much time I spent on reporting. Clients want to see what you did each month, so budget time for screenshots, updates, and monthly reports.