Big projects fail in predictable ways. The client pays everything up front and loses leverage, or the freelancer works for weeks on a promise and loses sleep. Milestones fix both problems by breaking the work into funded stages, and GigNepal's flexible milestone system lets you add and fund them as the project evolves.

What a milestone is

A milestone is a chunk of work with its own description, price and due date inside a larger order. The client funds each milestone into escrow separately; the freelancer delivers it; the client accepts and the money for that stage is released. The next milestone is then funded and the cycle repeats.

How to split a project

Split by deliverables the client can actually evaluate, not by time. For a website: 1) design concepts and style guide, 2) home and services pages built, 3) remaining pages, forms and SEO, 4) launch and handover. For an app: discovery and wireframes, first working build, feature-complete build, store submission. Three to six milestones is the sweet spot; more than that becomes admin.

How much to fund first

GigNepal requires a minimum first funding (a percentage of the agreed budget, shown on the order page) so the freelancer knows the client is committed. Beyond that, fund one milestone ahead. The freelancer should never be working on an unfunded stage, and the client should never have more than one stage's money at risk.

Adding milestones mid-project

Scope changes. With flexible milestones either side can propose a new one: the freelancer requests it with a description and price, the client approves and funds it, and it becomes part of the order with the same escrow protection. This is the right way to handle "while you're at it, can you also..." requests, which otherwise end up as unpaid favours or arguments.

Delivering a milestone well

• Deliver through the milestone's own delivery button, with a short note on what is included and what is deliberately left for the next stage.
• Attach something the client can inspect: a staging link, a PDF, a video walkthrough.
• Ask for acceptance explicitly. Unreviewed milestones auto-release after the review window, but a clear yes is better for the relationship.

Accepting a milestone well

Check it against the milestone description, not against the whole project. If something from a later stage is missing, that is fine. If something in this stage is wrong, request a revision with specifics before accepting. Once accepted, the funds are released and cannot be clawed back, which is exactly the certainty the freelancer needs to start the next stage.

Used this way, milestones turn a large, nervous commitment into a series of small, confident ones. Both sides end the project with their money, their work and their goodwill intact.