Here's what I've learned, for the case of dealing with small jobs for small clients (which in my experience is a very "long tail" of contracting jobs):
1. Have an hourly rate, but make an estimate for all jobs and make the price fixed based on that. Feel free to overestimate in this part; just make sure that you can come up with a solid number. For example, "10 hours, that means you owe me $1000." This will be the fixed price for the job.
2. Tell them that if your estimate goes horribly wrong and it turns out that the job is vastly more complex than you thought (but you couldn't know ahead of time), they owe you nothing if they decide to stop the job at that point. If they want to continue, of course, they can pay you more based on a new estimate.
In my experience the primary problem with small clients is that to them, $1000 or $2000 is really big money; they feel very worried about signing it over to you for dubious gain. So it's very important to make sure that they feel that they are guaranteed to get the return they were promised. And 2) almost never actually happens in reality; it's just an important step to making them feel comfortable with hiring you.
Another reason to go with smaller clients is that it's easier to get a job and there's less overhead; instead of dealing with a huge corporate bureaucracy you can often just get on Skype, discuss what you need, sign an agreement, and start working within an hour or two.
> Tell them that if your estimate goes horribly wrong and it turns out that the job is vastly more complex than you thought (but you couldn't know ahead of time), they owe you nothing if they decide to stop the job at that point. If they want to continue, of course, they can pay you more based on a new estimate.
I do it exactly like that, it's a good rule.
It gives people certainty, and it's not only the small customers that like it.
Also, if you build this into your contract it gives you an out. I've known too many people who were perfectly willing to sign up for a fixed payment job, thinking they were overestimating, only to find out that the specs were too vague or there was too much rewriting such that it took more than twice as long as expected.
If you don't complete the task, you don't get paid, plain and simple. You get paid for deliverables, not for work.
For invoicing, I just bill at the end of each job--exceptions occur when the client isn't someone that I would necessarily trust off the bat to do this.
Comments
Here's what I've learned, for the case of dealing with small jobs for small clients (which in my experience is a very "long tail" of contracting jobs):
1. Have an hourly rate, but make an estimate for all jobs and make the price fixed based on that. Feel free to overestimate in this part; just make sure that you can come up with a solid number. For example, "10 hours, that means you owe me $1000." This will be the fixed price for the job.
2. Tell them that if your estimate goes horribly wrong and it turns out that the job is vastly more complex than you thought (but you couldn't know ahead of time), they owe you nothing if they decide to stop the job at that point. If they want to continue, of course, they can pay you more based on a new estimate.
In my experience the primary problem with small clients is that to them, $1000 or $2000 is really big money; they feel very worried about signing it over to you for dubious gain. So it's very important to make sure that they feel that they are guaranteed to get the return they were promised. And 2) almost never actually happens in reality; it's just an important step to making them feel comfortable with hiring you.
Another reason to go with smaller clients is that it's easier to get a job and there's less overhead; instead of dealing with a huge corporate bureaucracy you can often just get on Skype, discuss what you need, sign an agreement, and start working within an hour or two.
> Tell them that if your estimate goes horribly wrong and it turns out that the job is vastly more complex than you thought (but you couldn't know ahead of time), they owe you nothing if they decide to stop the job at that point. If they want to continue, of course, they can pay you more based on a new estimate.
I do it exactly like that, it's a good rule.
It gives people certainty, and it's not only the small customers that like it.
Also, if you build this into your contract it gives you an out. I've known too many people who were perfectly willing to sign up for a fixed payment job, thinking they were overestimating, only to find out that the specs were too vague or there was too much rewriting such that it took more than twice as long as expected.
This sounds like a nice compromise.
Can you clarify a little on #2? Have you been paid up to the point at which they decide to stop the job or you don't get paid for any of your time?
Along those same lines, how do you handle invoicing? Do you take any up-front payment? Bill weekly? One lump sum at the end of the job? Thanks.
If you don't complete the task, you don't get paid, plain and simple. You get paid for deliverables, not for work.
For invoicing, I just bill at the end of each job--exceptions occur when the client isn't someone that I would necessarily trust off the bat to do this.
Thanks