How to Pitch an Idea Tip 12: Split the costs into build, run, and maintain

5 Mar 2022 · 1 min

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Break your project costs into three buckets: build (initial development), run (daily operations), and maintain (improvements and fixes). This clarity shows stakeholders exactly when money is needed and who pays for what, making your pitch harder to dismiss.

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How to pitch an idea, tip number 12: Make sure you break the costs into build, run, and maintain. We'll often talk about what it costs to build the thing, or to start the idea or the initiative that we're pitching. But we need to break the cost down into the 3 categories of build, run, and maintain, because those costs and those funds often come from different places. You need money to build the thing, build the software, build the idea, implement the idea. It's then going to take money to run that. What is the daily, monthly, or annual cost to run that product, that service, or that idea? There's also a cost to maintain it. This is different from running it. It's making improvements, fixing issues, enhancing the service, or just keeping it going in addition to running it. So when you make your pitch, make sure you break the costs down into build, run, and maintain. That way, your audience will know what they're paying for and when.