The module, the currency we use to charge and deliver value at Soluble

Pricing work is a genuine challenge for any service company. To do it as fairly as possible, you need to measure the value that a team of professionals brings, not just through concrete deliverables, but also through intangible elements like trust or quality. Variables that, in turn, have a clear and direct impact on results.

Soluble was born as the natural evolution of the trajectory of two freelancers, our cofounders, Ismael Barros and Laurent Dietrich. In that early stage they used a system in which they logged hours that included production time and also the processes that happened around that production (the thinking and the doing).

For Ismael, this formula wasn't precise at all and didn't allow them to work comfortably. For operational reasons and due to an added difficulty: that, from that original version, we've always been very different professionals doing very different things.

The traditional methods for pricing strategy, activation, design, and development services didn't convince us… and that's how the module was born, the currency we use to charge for our work. The way we've chosen to escape the sale of time and focus on delivering value to those who trust what we do.

What is the module

The module is a minimum useful unit, larger than what's standard in the sector (hour or day), that takes three main variables into account: impact, value, and the cost of reaching objectives—or producing deliverables—related to a project.

We're aware that, at first glance, it's an atypical formula, but experience has shown us that there are many advantages. Our clients talk to us in "modules" the way one talks in dollars or pounds. They know what the exchange rate is at that moment in the relationship and what level of quantity and quality they can expect. Converting the module to euros is quick, simple, and constant.

When a client has a budget of X, we know that with that amount of money we'll be able to have Y modules to carry out the project, which is how we adjust scope and depth to guarantee that the relationship's objectives are met.

We solve existential pains

Let's go back to the beginning. The reason we implemented the module is that it solved a lot of headaches for the people we work with, in addition to addressing pains related to our brand and our organizational culture.

The first thing is that charging by the hour creates a conflict of interest: the longer we take, the more we earn. I'll want to take longer and you'll want to take as little time as possible. If we're not aligned on this, we're off to a bad start. It's not us.

Charging by day presented a similar problem, and you have to bear in mind that the cost of a person dedicated to graphic design has never been the same as that of a front-end programmer or a copywriter.

At the same time, thinking in terms of projects is almost always impossible. Many times we don't know what we're going to end up doing with a client. We build from within to project outward, and it's common for what was initially identified as a problem to actually be just a symptom caused by something more fundamental. The module lets us redirect our efforts toward what truly matters. Maybe we don't need to change the entire website, just an activation plan to reach more people.

And there's also a matter of essence and culture: charging by person, as if we were selling them by weight, distances us from the kind of company we are and want to be. We don't sell people and we refuse to sell their time.

Advantages for Soluble and our more-than partners

The module system solves very specific pains for Soluble, and that grants, in turn, a series of virtues that permeate all areas and day-to-day processes:

• Agility. We seek continuous, lasting relationships that evolve over time, and thanks to the module we take very little time to estimate and price new project scopes.
• Flexibility. The modules are redistributed across the different phases—strategy, identity, product, technology, activation…—as needed, and according to what brings the most value to the reality of the organizations we work with.
• Accessibility. We don't ask for an absurd percentage of the project upfront. We start with an opening module and get to work.
• Trust. We work with an open door—at any point in the relationship, we can pause or end it.
• Visibility. At all times, the client knows what they're going to receive, how much money it's costing them, and what they're getting for the invoice they're paying. The connection between deliverables and payments is crystal clear, with quality held constant as a variable.

We use the module because it provides certainty and lays the groundwork for a long-term relationship where Soluble wins, but so do our clients. We use the module because it helps us fulfill our purpose: making people happier at work.