Engagement model overview

Every Solagon engagement runs as a single monthly retainer. The build, the launch, and the ongoing operational work all live inside the same retainer — there's no separate "build invoice" and then "and now we pay you each month for upkeep." It's one number per month for the whole relationship.

Inside that retainer, the work moves through four stages: discovery, build, launch, and ongoing retainer work. The stages aren't separately billed; they describe what's happening at any given moment so it's clear what to expect.

The four stages

1. Discovery

One to three weeks of focused conversations and audit work at the start of the engagement. We figure out exactly what's getting built, what's getting cut, and how it fits together. Output: a signed scope, a one-page architecture sketch, and a build schedule. Discovery happens before billing starts.

Read more about discovery →

2. Build

The bulk of the pre-launch work. We build the system in two-week sprints with end-of-sprint demos. You see real working software at every checkpoint — never slide decks pretending to be progress. Billing has not started yet.

Read more about the build phase →

3. Launch

DNS, monitoring, runbooks, training. We don't disappear after the last commit lands — launch is its own stage with its own checklist. The first monthly retainer invoice is keyed to either the live date or five business days after we tell you the site is production-ready and awaiting your approval.

Read more about launch →

4. Ongoing retainer

After launch, the same retainer continues. It covers hosting, infrastructure, maintenance, monthly SEO audits, technical support, and reasonable content / layout updates inside a fair-use policy. Major redesigns or net-new features are scoped separately.

The retainer carries a 12-month minimum because the build cost is amortized into the monthly fee — it's the only way the model works without a large up-front check.

Read more about the ongoing retainer →

What's the same across every stage

A real developer is your point of contact. Not an account executive, not a project manager who can't read the codebase. The person you're talking to could write the code if they wanted to.

Pre-launch you can pull the plug. If discovery shows it isn't a fit, we end there. Once the site goes live and the retainer kicks in, the 12-month minimum applies — see minimum term & cancellation for the cancellation math.

Final ownership of the deliverables transfers after the minimum term + full payment. During the retainer, Solagon hosts and manages the site. The handoff for migration off Solagon hosting is available at the end of the minimum term — see code ownership & handoff for what that actually looks like.

What we don't do

It's worth being explicit about the shape of work we're not built for:

• Pure staff augmentation. We sell projects, not bodies-by-the-hour. If you need contractors to slot into your team and ship features assigned by your PM, we're a poor fit — go talk to a staffing firm.
• WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, or template-based work. Every system we build is custom code on a modern stack. If templates are what you need, you'll pay too much for what we'd ship.
• One-and-done builds with no ongoing relationship. The retainer model means we're on the hook for the site running well over time, not just the day it ships.

Where to go next

If you're evaluating Solagon, start with discovery — that's the stage you'll experience first. If you're pricing the work, jump to how we price.