Rule: treat agency relationships as multi-year — project-based engagements average just 24 months and end at the point a healthy site would start compounding

Rule: Frame the Candid relationship as multi-year from the start. Project-based engagements average just 24 months of lifespan vs 56 months for retainer-based agencies (Focus Digital 2026 — retainer-based agencies average 56-month client lifespans vs 24 months for project-based; the relationship structure itself determines whether compounding gets captured) — and 24 months is roughly the point at which a healthy site would be entering Stage-3 compounding (J-curve Stage 3 — compounding (Year 2+), CONDITIONAL: evergreen pages can accumulate traffic and links over years; HubSpot compounding-posts mechanism; not guaranteed).

Why: Project-based engagements end at the moment the asset becomes valuable. The client pays the upfront cost, sits through the invisible window, almost reaches compounding, and then either ends the engagement (discarding the asset) or hands it to an in-house team that doesn't know how to maintain it. The retainer structure (or equivalent multi-year commitment) is what captures the compounding.

How to apply: In new-business conversations, anchor on the multi-year frame: "What we're building is a 3-to-5-year asset, not a one-shot project. The first 6-12 months are mostly cost; the value shows up in years 2 and 3 if we hold the line. The engagement structure that matches that economic shape is a multi-year retainer, not a one-off build-and-handoff." Be explicit that project-based handoffs are a known failure mode.