At Acronyms Unlimited, we work collaboratively with our clients. We operate on co-design principles: the idea that our clients are the ultimate domain experts, and we’re not so much “bringing them along on the journey”; we are along on theirs. Our clients have included (but aren’t limited to) organisations from precision agriculture, acoustics, sports recovery, adaptive athletics, and aged care. We’ve also worked with a variety of scales, from 2-person start-ups, to universities, to multi-generational family businesses.
Practically speaking, we avoid fixed cost projects. Our experience has been that when companies are at the early stage of an idea or product, their initial list of requirements is in flux. The end product may meet the requirements stated at the start, but that doesn’t mean a client has ended up with what they actually wanted by the end. The nature of RnD is the process of development yields new ideas or new obstacles, and the ability to adapt and pivot is invaluable.
Initial consultation is free. If you don’t already have funding, we’ll likely direct you to consultants in our network who can help you raise capital or apply for grants. We are unlikely to consider shares or the equivalent as payment if you are pre-revenue. For grants, we are able to offer labor and project component storage as a in-kind contribution in some cases.
Once you decide to work with us, we nominate an hourly rate for every worker involved, in line with the expertise they bring to the project, and use that to generate work packages. Work packages will come with options and timelines, as well as estimated costs.
We then schedule regular checkins, as often as weekly, to report progress and seek input with major decisions. We track our hours and generate monthly invoices on a per project basis. This also enables you to put together a claim for your RnD tax rebate.