I actually like the "Fixed Price" concept... But it just doesnt seem to apply much in these consulting gigs I have been getting into... I just dont, at first, know enough about the Client's business practices and their own experiences to be THAT confident about any estimate...
Long ago I was an employee of a company that used to specialize in Fixed Price bids... Every Project we would take on, whether it was "new" for a "new client" or "next phase/version" for a "recurring client" would be done in two phases... Analysis Phase - Executed in a Time and Materials environment... With (most common) deliverables * Statement of Work - Usual Project Description; Assumptions; Dependencies; Milestones; Contract Language * Functional Specs * Design Specs * Project Plan Once the Analysis Phase was complete, the Sales Person would go in and start bidding the "Fixed Price Contract" based on the above deliverables... (Caveats - Most often the "Bidding of the FP Contract" was taking place at the same time as the Analysis Phase... What with us sometimes bidding against "In house Projects" at times... Other times, there was an "expectation" that we would just transition from one phase to the other...) At the time, that was pretty unique... And with so many "big projects" "always" coming in over budget and late... It was a pretty powerful sales advantage... (Oddly, when we tried to resurrect that same "business style" just a few years ago, we could not make it work... But anyway) But, at least currently, I would only use such a model with an existing client, where I really understand the issues and the "environment"... > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf > Of Mike Rawlins > Sent: Wednesday, April 06, 2011 8:13 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [EDI-L] <MISC> - To all Contractors out there > > Rich, > > Good luck with that! In all of my EDI engagements I've never had a contract > like that, not even for the one fixed price contract I did. > When I worked for a vendor our fixed price contracts routinely had a > provision to make final payment dependent on passing the acceptance tests. > But, there was also a payment due on signing and frequently progress > payments. Unless you can arrange something like that and get specific about > acceptance criteria I would pass on the deal. Even when you do arrange > something, you also have to put in provisions about what happens when the > work is presented for testing and the client delays, how long you have to fix > reported problems and re-test, etc. Bottom line is that if you don't trust each > other no contract is going protect either of you. If you do trust each other, > keep it simple. > > Hope my two cents worth helps. > > Mike > > ----------------------------------------- > Michael C. Rawlins, Rawlins EC Consulting www.rawlinsecconsulting.com > > > On 4/6/2011 10:23 AM, Rich Silva wrote: > > > > Or those of you with Contracting experience OK, any of you . Feel > > free to chime in > > > > A prospective client of mine (their lawyers anyway) have asked that I > > add a clause to Exhibit A of the Contractors Agreement (Exhibit A, > > in their case is basically the place where I put in my billing terms ) > > that goes something like > > > > payment is not due until testing has been approved and completed > > > > I have a lot of issue with this, not only because it holds up payment > > on the entire contract until the end (and I am in no condition to > > support > > that) but > > because it also leaves me no leverage if they decide to withhold > > payment (for any reason) Id have made my deliveries and its not > > like I could remove them (Other than legal). > > > > Not to mention that Now I/we will have to negotiate and agree on > > Acceptance Criteria which so far has been loosely make it work > > > > (For a bit of context, its a multi month contract Currently labeled > > as a Phase 1 (of at least three) And both sides (myself and my > > contacts within the company) are hoping that this turns into a long > > friendly relationship > > > > I was curious if any of you have seen anything like this > > > > And if any of you have some alternative positions I might offer while > > I negotiate around this issue? > > > > Thanx, > > > > Rich > > > > Description: Wizard Clip Art SigRichard Silva > > > > Silva Software Services United States > > > > Phone: (310) 387-8364 > > > > Email: <mailto:[email protected] <mailto:RichSilv%40Pacbell.net>> > > [email protected] <mailto:RichSilv%40Pacbell.net> > > > > ü Please consider the environment before printing this email. > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > > > ------------------------------------ > > ... > Please use the following Message Identifiers as your subject prefix: <SALES>, > <JOBS>, <LIST>, <TECH>, <MISC>, <EVENT>, <OFF-TOPIC> > > Job postings are welcome, but for job postings or requests for work: <JOBS> > IS REQUIRED in the subject line as a prefix.Yahoo! 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