I’ve been working with Jaggards for years.
We’ve built some of my proudest work together.
Today, they told me they’re going to hire a WooCommerce developer internally.
On paper, it makes sense.
We charge $150/hour. For 50 hours of our time, they can hire a full-time employee. And they’ve got enough ongoing dev work to make that math stack up.
They were kind about it.
They told me they’ve loved working with us. They don’t want to cut ties. They’d like a collaborative approach where their new developer handles the day-to-day and we step in for the tricky stuff.
But here’s the part most people don’t say out loud:
It stung.
I’ve poured years into this project. Countless late nights. Endless problem-solving. My ego doesn’t like hearing, “We can do it cheaper in-house.”
Here’s what I’ve learned, sitting with that feeling:
- Clients will always look at the economics (P&L). It’s not personal. It’s business.
- They can hire someone to cover the basics, but they’ll still need us when things get complicated or their developer hits a wall.
- As we move up-market (post-acquisition, we’ll be at least $220/h for enterprise), some clients won’t be able to follow. That’s just part of the climb.
The sting isn’t really about them.
It’s about me.
It’s about realizing that as you grow, not every client comes with you.
And that’s okay.
Because the ones who stay?
They’ll pay for your expertise, not just your hours.
Takeaway: Don’t confuse client economics with your value. If they hire in-house, it’s not rejection – it’s a sign you’ve built something so valuable, they want to replicate it. The key is to move up-market and keep positioning yourself as the expert they’ll always need when things get complicated.
