I have done some independent contracting. If you have ever wondered how a CEO can frack up a company, get fired and take home a $10M bonus, it's all about the contract.
You should ALWAYS get some money up front. If you were so inclined, you could even ask for 100% up front - there really are circumstances where it would be wise to do so. Up front money forces the client to make a tangible commitment to the project and protects you from having the project sniped by the company owner's golf buddy's nephew in Michigan. The biggest mistake (imho) that new freelancers make is to not have a signed contract in hand before starting a project. Unless you like being sued, don't start a project without a contract. -----Original Message----- From: Ian Skinner [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2008 10:48 AM To: CF-Community Subject: Question for the independent contractors out there. I have a pretty good full time job that I have only been in for ~1/2 year and I am not really looking for anything new. I'm open any six figure, golden opportunity that cares to come knocking, but otherwise I am happy where I am at. As with most people, I could use a little extra each month and I have been getting some lukewarm feelers for some after hours, moonlighting contract work. I have a question for those of you who do this kind of thing day in and day out. Is it fair and reasonable to ask for some part of the payment up front? If so how much and how would you word it? I have been burnt in the past where the time it took to get payment put me in serious hurt with my personal finances. This is probably less of a concern now with a full time regular paycheck to back things up, but still I would like confidence that I am dealing with people who are going to pay me for what I do for them. If you where taking small 40 to 80 hour jobs over a period of a month or two would it be unreasonable to ask for 20% or something up front? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;160198600;22374440;w Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:251715 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
