Q:Hi Mike/Gabe, In "Design is a Job" you mention clients waffling over decisions, and if they don't get decisions to you have to charge them for extra 4 days of work. I recently had a client put a 4 week deadline on a project, which was a scramble to achieve. Two days after signing, he stalls the project for 1 week, then 2 more days, then another week. How do you protect yourself against this from the get go, and how do you determine what to bill if a project takes longer (just for overhead?).
Hi Tim,
This is truly a sticky wicket.
Erika and I discussed related contract/timing issues on a very recent episode of Running From the Law: http://www.muleradio.net/rftl/42/
There are a number of different ways to/models for dealing with this, including:
(a) The sprint model, where the client pays for a two-week sprint in advance, and you commit for a certain number of hours (say up to 40/week) during that two-week period. It doesn’t matter whether or how much you work during that period, and the payment is nonrefundable. In other words, the client has reserved your time.
(b) A “pause clause” (credit to Carl Smith of nGen Works for the name), which allows you to pause work, keep any advance/deposit, bill for any additional work done prior to pause not covered by the deposit/advance, and recommence the project at your convenience (and subject to reasonably modified terms if you’d like) if/when the client is ready.
Both of those options can be tricky to negotiate, but they do provide protection in the case of the scenario you describe.
Good luck!
Gabe
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