The budget depends first on the problem to solve
“We need help with the product” can cover very different situations. You may have:
- a specific decision to challenge;
- a roadmap to rebuild;
- an underperforming user journey;
- an existing product where you no longer know what to improve first;
- several connected problems: positioning, organisation, UX, delivery, go-to-market.
The first job is therefore to work out how many dimensions of the product are really involved.
A narrow question does not necessarily require three months of support. Conversely, treating five symptoms of the same problem separately can cost more without addressing its root cause.
Three levels of support
A typical situation
You have several topics that look independent: an overloaded roadmap, a user journey to rework and unclear roles.
Taken separately, each could become its own service. But if they stem from the same product leadership or positioning problem, handling them one by one mostly multiplies interventions. Conversely, if the need comes down to one specific decision, a three-month engagement would be oversized.
1. A specific decision
If what you mainly need is an outside view on a decision, one or a few hours with an expert may be enough. Examples:
- should we launch this feature?
- is this roadmap defensible?
- should we hire a PM?
- does the problem really come from the product?
At 5LEGS, CPO Advice, PM Advice and PMM Advice cover this kind of need.
2. An identified problem
When the topic is clear but calls for analysis or a deliverable, a targeted audit or scoping engagement is usually the better fit. At 5LEGS, catalogue services range from €870 to €5,000 excl. VAT. The start date is agreed together after purchase, and each service then takes on average between 4 and 10 working days depending on its scope. For example:
- Roadmap Scoping: €2,800 excl. VAT;
- Customer Journey Workshop: €3,500 excl. VAT;
- Live Product Diagnosis: €4,200 excl. VAT;
- Product Organisation Diagnosis: €5,000 excl. VAT.
3. Several problems are connected
If the roadmap, the user journey, the roles and the decision-making process all need revisiting, treating them independently risks moving the problem around rather than solving it. A broader engagement starts with the diagnosis, helps make the necessary decisions, then puts in place the methods and tools that allow the team to carry on.
At 5LEGS, three engagements of around 90 days address different contexts:
| Format | Price excl. VAT | For whom |
|---|---|---|
| La Bonne Direction | €12,000 | Founders and small teams |
| L’Autoroute E-commerce | €24,000 | E-commerce SMEs and scale-ups with a conversion challenge |
| La Bonne Carte | €33,000 | Product teams in SMEs and scale-ups |
How to compare two proposals
Price alone says little. Before comparing two quotes, look at:
- What will actually be delivered. “Strategic support” is not a deliverable. A roadmap, a diagnosis, a user journey, prioritised recommendations, a RACI or a dashboard are.
- Who will do the work. Check whether the senior people presented during the sales process actually work on the engagement.
- The scope. An individual consultant and a multidisciplinary team do not cover the same topics.
- The billing model. Day rate, time spent, subscription and fixed-price models do not distribute risk in the same way.
- What remains once the engagement ends. The result can be a report, a delivered project, or a team able to continue without the provider.
At 5LEGS
The three founders personally take charge of every engagement, from strategy to execution. Engagements are billed at a fixed price, with deliverables defined in advance. Complementary expertise in design, data or tech is brought in when the topic requires it. The goal is for the methods, decisions and tools to remain within the company after the engagement.
In short
A specific question can be handled for a few thousand euros. A cross-cutting topic requires more time and several areas of expertise.
Before asking “how much does product support cost?”, the better question is often: what problem do we really need to solve?
Related services
Live Product Diagnosis
€4,200 excl. VAT
Roadmap Scoping
€2,800 excl. VAT
Customer Journey Workshop
€3,500 excl. VAT
Product Organisation Diagnosis
€5,000 excl. VAT
Related questions
I don’t need a full-time CPO, or can’t justify one: what are the alternatives?
You do not necessarily need to hire a CPO. If you need regular product leadership, a fractional CPO can play that role a few days a month. If the framework already exists and what is mainly missing is execution capacity, a freelance PM is the better fit. If you have a specific problem or piece of work to resolve within a few months, a product studio can take the topic on and then hand it over to the team. As an example, at 5LEGS an engagement of around 90 days led by three senior experts costs between €12,000 and €33,000 excl. VAT.
Our product exists, but we no longer know what to improve first: where do we start?
Start with a diagnosis rather than a new roadmap or a redesign. It should bring together business objectives, actual usage, user journeys, available data and how the team operates, so you can separate symptoms from the problems worth tackling first. If the problem is very narrow, a specialised expert may be enough. If it touches several dimensions of the product, a multidisciplinary view is more useful. As an example, at 5LEGS the Live Product Diagnosis costs €4,200 excl. VAT.
What can you realistically improve on a product in three months?
Three months are enough to diagnose a product, make several key decisions and put new ways of working in place. They are not necessarily enough to rebuild or develop everything that follows from them. A short engagement is therefore particularly suited to scoping, roadmap, user journeys, organisation, go-to-market and handover to the team. As an example, La Bonne Carte by 5LEGS, an engagement of around 90 days for the product team of an SME or scale-up, costs €33,000 excl. VAT.
Your situation does not fit these boxes?
Describe your context in a few lines. We reply with the right starting point, no commitment.