Either ditch the client or double or triple your rate (at least). In addition to paying for a work product, clients will also pay to reduce risk. (The insuranc

Either ditch the client or double or triple your rate (at least). In addition to paying for a work product, clients will also pay to reduce risk. (The insurance industry is based on this fact.) When you agree to a fixed rate for a project, you are assuming risk. If you can't avoid assuming all the risk for a project, make sure you are being compensated for it. In my experience, I never have a good estimate of how long a project with take - the type of projects I take on are never the same and involve a lot of inventing stuff as I go along.