To push it a little farther, I go 50% to start and 50% on delivery on contracting jobs.
And I normally bid the work so that the first 50% covers my costs. So (almost inevitably) as the second half payment drags on, I don't care so much. If you manage expectations, and clearly define maintenance vs enhancement work, clients usually pay off in the end. And the few that don't typically treat all their vendors that way. A little bit of Chamber of Commerce discussion can save you lots of legal fees. And remember, you can always back out any changes the client hasn't paid for if you keep good records and use some form of version control. Jerry Johnson >>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 03/17/02 01:03PM >>> Very true. Almost every client over the years has not blinked at a retainer fee to start the work. We go the route of designers: 33 down, 33 acceptance of mock, 33 upon delivery to server...or it doesn't go live. The only ones we have had complain were the ones who would try to take us for a ride. Regards, Eric J. Hoffman Director of Internet Development DataStream Connexion, LLC (formerly Small Dog Design) -----Original Message----- From: laszlo [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Saturday, March 16, 2002 1:39 PM To: CF-Talk Subject: Re: OT: Advice and opinion on client who has a problem paying bills Very well said, Mark. In addition: - Many times these kind of things are what I call the "mismatch of expectations" and is not necessarily implies that any of the parties is a 'bad guy'. Therefore, a 'contract' is always a must. I like writing the scope of work together with the client: He knows what he wants, I know what can be done. We (developers) hate to do this kind of work, but if you are an independent consultant, it's a must. I usually charge hourly rate for writing up specs, even if I go for a fixed bid. The reason is, that I cannot give a fix price, before the spec is cast in stone, but I know, that a detailed spec is going to take time, otherwise it's useless. - I also strongly advocate to maintain a 'retainer' fee. And while some clients are not crazy about it, you can explain them why it is necessary. If a client plainly rejects the retainer idea, it's my experience, that they may not plan to keep the balance up-to-date. So I usually don't deal with them. Sorry, if some of this was OT, but felt like I can share some of the things I learned during the 25+ years of consulting. Regards, laszlo ______________________________________________________________________ Structure your ColdFusion code with Fusebox. Get the official book at http://www.fusionauthority.com/bkinfo.cfm FAQ: http://www.thenetprofits.co.uk/coldfusion/faq Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/index.cfm?sidebar=lists
