Spec work is a tax on the studio and a tax on the client. We replaced it with a paid two-week diagnostic that produces a written direction, a phased roadmap, and a fixed-bid proposal for the work itself.
Roughly half of our diagnostics convert into a full engagement. The other half take the roadmap and execute it themselves, or with another studio. We are happy with both outcomes.
Written by the Shefa team. Notes, corrections, and disagreements welcome at hello@shefa.agency.
