What is scope creep, and how do you stop it?
Scope creep
Scope creep is when a project slowly grows beyond what was agreed, through extra requests and revisions, without the deadline or the price changing to match.
Scope creep is the gradual growth of a project past what was agreed at the start. It rarely arrives as one big change; it comes as small extras: one more page, another round of revisions, a quick version for social media.
Each request seems reasonable on its own, which is why it is hard to refuse. Together they can double the work while the fee stays the same, and the relationship suffers when the provider finally pushes back.
The usual defence is a written scope with a set number of revisions, and a simple habit: every new request gets a yes with a price or a date attached, not a silent yes.
For example. A logo project agreed at three concepts and two rounds of changes turns into six concepts, a brand guide and business cards, at the original fee.