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Don't get me wrong. I certainly don't think the majority of vendors who use a fixed-price model are trying to rip you off. In fact, when I started my business that's the way we worked—which is why we have such great insight into the flaws in the system. But there needs to be a transparency to the work. You need to know exactly what you're getting, how long it takes, and how much it costs. You need to know that you're only paying for time actually spent on your account. And you need to know that no risk will ever be taken with your system just to maintain your contractor's profitability. The inherent structure of fixed pricing makes this kind of transparency an impossibility. Here's why: