I don't understand how that is a problem, you want the person managing feature trade offs to be mindful of the budget. If the business itself is sound, deliveri

I don't understand how that is a problem, you want the person managing feature trade offs to be mindful of the budget. If the business itself is sound, delivering the most valuable features will increase the budget. So those two must be aligned. I think the problem with an open ended contract is that you, the developer, don't have any significant incentive to create value for the client: as long as the client has budget and likes what you're doing, you are good. Once it ends, it doesn't matter if your code falls apart because you are not there to pick up the pieces. So you have to drive your consultation business on reputation and honor only, not on the value of what you create, at least not directly. It is possible but not ideal. My preferred way is to have skin in the game. Perhaps not so much that a single project's failure will kill your company, but enough to get rewarded for success in the mid- to long term.