There’s a particular kind of prospective customer we all meet sooner or later. They arrive full of enthusiasm and big plans, and they insist they have plenty of future work lined up. All you need to do is give them a really good price on this first project. Once you’ve proved yourself, they say, more opportunities will follow.

Anyone who has been in business for more than five minutes knows how this usually plays out.

The promise of future work is a classic lure. It sounds flattering and it sounds like a chance to build a long term relationship, but it’s really a way to push you into quoting dangerously low. The fallacy is assuming that the future projects will ever appear or that they’ll be priced fairly if they do. The customer who demands a loss leader at the start rarely becomes a reliable partner later.

Firstly, there’s the simple fact that “future work” is vague by design. It isn’t a contract or a commitment. It’s a carrot. Suppliers who fall for it end up delivering a project for a fraction of its real value, with the big risk the promised future bounty will never arrive.

If another project actually does appear, you’ve already set the benchmark. A low first price becomes the reference point for every quote that follows. The customer won’t suddenly accept proper rates, they will expect the same bargain again.

The healthier approach is straightforward. Price the work honestly. Respect your time and expertise. A customer who genuinely wants an ongoing relationship will understand that it starts with a fair first project, not a loss leader. If they push for a bargain instead, that’s usually all you need to know about how the relationship would develop.