The verdict in three sentences
Project income is a feast-or-famine cycle: one great month hides a hole the next. The maintenance retainer smooths it by turning every delivery into a 50,000-200,000 FCFA/month subscription. Target a 60-80% attach rate and churn under 5%/month: MRR compounds and becomes your foundation.
Why recurring revenue changes everything
100% project revenue forces you to keep reselling just to cover costs. Recurring revenue creates a floor: even with no new project, maintenance pays a fixed slice of costs. It's also what makes an agency valuable — a book of recurring contracts is worth far more than a pipeline of one-off projects.
| Metric | 100% project model | Project + maintenance model |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue predictability | Low | High |
| Monthly floor | 0 FCFA | Sum of retainers |
| Sales effort | Constant | Reduced on installed base |
| Agency valuation | Low multiple | High multiple (MRR) |
| Cash-flow resilience | Fragile | Solid |
What a retainer covers
A clear contract prevents abuse. Define the scope: updates, backups, security, minor fixes, and a quota of small changes. Beyond that, everything is billed extra. Here's a typical 2026 grid.
| Maintenance tier | Price/month | Included | Target |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essential | 50,000 FCFA | Updates, backups, security, uptime | Brochure Starter/Growth |
| Standard | 100,000 FCFA | + 2 h changes/month, monthly report | Brochure Premium |
| Pro | 150,000 FCFA | + 4 h/month, light technical SEO | E-commerce |
| Business | 200,000 FCFA | + 6 h/month, priority support | E-commerce/institutional |
Mini case study
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Fatou, who runs an agency in Thiès, delivers 3 sites/month. By attaching a 100,000 FCFA Standard contract to 70% of her deliveries, she adds ~2 contracts/month. After 12 months, with 4%/month churn, she stacks about 22 active contracts, i.e. 2.2M FCFA MRR — over 26M FCFA/year of predictable revenue on top of projects. Her cash flow no longer depends on the next big contract.
FAQ
What attach rate should I target? Between 60 and 80% of delivered projects. Presenting maintenance as the natural extension of the project (not an option) easily clears 60%.
How do I limit churn? Monthly value report, fast turnaround on requests, and annual billing with a discount. Churn under 5%/month is realistic with good service.
How much should I charge for maintenance? From 50,000 to 200,000 FCFA/month depending on site complexity and included scope. Index price to risk: an e-commerce that loses sales during downtime justifies a higher tier.
Is maintenance worth the cost for the client? Yes: backups, security and fixes avoid losses far higher than an outage or a hack. It's insurance, not a luxury.
How do I sell recurring without pushing? Bake it into the initial quote as the logical follow-on to delivery, with the first 3 months free or a launch discount. The client gets used to the service before the first full invoice.
Let's talk about your project. We'll structure your maintenance offer to turn deliveries into predictable MRR. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
