I tend to stay away from giving a "final" project price for this specific reason... I was burned once too... to the tune of $350K... so I learned my lesson quickly! :)
Since I will not give a final price; instead I will create a quote for a client based on estimates.. but I will always charge client "time and materials" instead of "flat fee". That covers me in that if a project goes longer and helps the client if it goes shorter... If longer the charges will continue to occur as it is based on time; if they cant pay then the project stops.. basically hourly... but also including any materials that might need to be purchased down the road at the clients expense... (if any; i.e hardware.. licenses, etc..). Going time an materials also helps you if there were a lawsuit of some sort put in place... as you can provide proof of why work stopped... No payment ;) most judges will see that as a means to throw it out (unless you are the one suing :) So to the client the original estimate might be $3500.00... however it is clearly stated and agreed that that is just an estimate and not a final price.... that the final cost will be based on time and materials. A lot of times; we as developers think that taking an approach like this will scare a client away... if the client is serious about their needs and can afford to pay you; this will be an acceptable approach.. most big companies do this type of billing... why should you be any different? It is also a safety net to filter out bad clients ;) In addition; I have also (with some "questionable" clients) done it where when I get to a specific number of hours... I bill them for the work up-to date... (so when I am say at 10 hours.. I put in a bill... if I dont get paid; I stop the work until payment comes in... that way I can assure I will get paid for my work) or you can do it by billing cycles; monthly; bi-weekly.. whatever works for you! Just my 2 cents on the issue :) Pablo Varando ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mark A Kruger" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "CF-Talk" <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, January 12, 2007 10:31 AM Subject: RE: Client asked me: "Why you use coldfusion?" >I understand that beggars can't be choosers but.... Here are a couple of > tips: > > 1) Find out about the company or client's financing. Most clients will > give > you reassurance (as in "yes I can pay.. I'm loaded with cash and everyone > looooves my idea"), but see if you can get more information than that. > Where > does he do his banking? Who are his investors? Does he have a business > plan? > Is he working out of the back of a truck? Does he have references? > > 2) If you are concerned about the clients ability to pay - use a retainer > system. Ask for a pool of money up front that you can bill against. We did > a > 125k project last year. The company was a startup and "seemed" well > financed. Because I was concerned I asked for a 30k retainer. Each month > I > figured our bill for the month and billed 10% of it against the retainer > with 90% due. So, for example, if the customer owed 20k, I would reduce > the > retainer by 2k and bill them 18k. The result is that the retainer is > drawn > down slowly as the project is billed out. If the customer is unable to pay > you have the money left on the retainer to compensate you and defray your > losses - which is exactly what happened in this case. The client went in > the > hole but the money left on the retainer meant that it didn't hurt too bad. > > 3) Work for money not for promises - Remember, the only folks who are > guaranteed to make money on the internet are developers. For those folks > who > have a "neat idea" about a web site it's like a game of craps. The > customer > who says "I'll pay you back when the site starts making money" is A) > obviously not financially organized enough to think ahead and finance his > development and B) is really saying, "Dang.... I hope this thing makes > money... Oh well, you take the risk - ok?" Unless you are a business angel > it is not up to you to finance someone's project. Don't let a customer > pitch > you. In fact, one of the most important skills you can have as a developer > is to be impervious to a sales pitch. Don't buy into hype (most startups > are > miserable failures). Do an excellent job for your customers. Certainly > hope > their project succeeds... Root for it. Try your best to make it viable. > But > don't "invest" in it with your own money. > > Instead, bill them on a regular basis. As soon as there is a hint of non > payment stop development and sit on your hands till they pony up. Don't > feel > bad about it either. The bank, the visa company, the local furniture store > or the local tire shop would also stop honoring their credit the if they > stopped making payments. Because you are not a faceless entity like a bank > the client might appeal to you to "give him a break". But you are not > there > to support their "vision" (although you might like the product) .. You are > there to provide a service for a fee. Be a vendor not an investor. Unless > it's your brother-in-law... Then you are stuck :) > > That's my take. > > -Mark > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Christopher Jordan [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Friday, January 12, 2007 9:58 AM > To: CF-Talk > Subject: Re: Client asked me: "Why you use coldfusion?" > > I think everyone's got a story like this (or will have sooner or later), > and > mine was no different... except that the client never paid me. I think I > would add (if it hasn't been said already) that people should get program > requirements in writing. This keeps the client from coming back and > saying, > "What about function xyz? You didn't code for that!" > You can now point to your document and say, "You didn't ask for that. If > you > want it, I can do it, but it'll add more time (and money) to the project." > > Cheers, > Chris > > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Create robust enterprise, web RIAs. Upgrade & integrate Adobe Coldfusion MX7 with Flex 2 http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;56760587;14748456;a?http://www.adobe.com/products/coldfusion/flex2/?sdid=LVNU Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Talk/message.cfm/messageid:266405 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.4
