Slashdot Mirror
Freelance Web Developer Best Practices?
SirLurksAlot writes "My last employer had to make a series of budget cuts, and I was laid off. I have been on the job hunt since then; however in the meantime I have begun freelancing as a Web developer. This is my first time in this role and so I would like the ask the Slashdot community: are there any best practices for freelance developers? What kind of process should I use when dealing with clients? Should I bill by the hour or provide a fixed quote on a per-project basis? What kind of assurances should I get from the client before I begin work? What is the best way to create accurate time estimates? I'm also wondering if there are any good open source tools for freelancers, such as for time-tracking and invoice creation (aside from simply using a spreadsheet). Any suggestions or insights would be welcome."
Quoting a fixed price for projects is like putting a "kick me" sign on your back. You'll attract cheapskate clients who will chisel you.
Use a standard contract that indemnifies you and covers your ass as much as possible. Always create a statement of work for each engagement and create a new revision that gets signed off for each material change.
Conformity is the jailer of freedom and enemy of growth. -JFK
I started freelance web development more than 10 years ago. I built my company on my freelance work. So I can speak with some authority here.
Here's my advice in bite-size nuggets:
- Only bill time and materials. Do not ever agree to do fixed fee work or you will loose your shirt.
- Incorporate. It's actually easy and gives you more protections.
- When tax time comes around have a CPA do your taxes.
- Find a basic, easy to read, even handed/fair contracting agreement that you should always try to use. Have it reviewed by a lawyer. Include these points: mutual indemnification, your *hourly* rate, terms of ownership that gives you ownership over work produced until its paid for in full. Include a clause that allows your clients to cancel at any time without warning but they still have to pay for hours worked. (More on why later.) Any contracts provided by your clients have reviewed by a lawyer.
- You *will* eventually (probably sooner rather than later) be stiffed by a client in part or in whole. Have a lawyer you can call to write them a letter. You'll at least get some payment if you have a lawyer write a letter for you. Be sure to know how far you want to push this. The point of a lawyer is not to sue, but to get partial payment.
- You can set your hourly rate more or less randomly. Look to see what other independent contractors are charging (as best you can) and set your rate proportional to your experiance and confidence. Raise your rates annually.
- There are numerous ways to handle proposals. Here's what I do and what I recommend: First, spend time talking with your leads to learn what it is that they need. Write this down in a proposal format that includes the following: 1) A short summary (1 to 2 pages at most) of what the client needs. 2) How you propose to solve their problems. This pretty much says that you'll provide what's listed in section #1. 3) A list of technologies and techniques you're likely to use including languages, platforms, frameworks, database, techniques such as Test Driven Development and Continuous Integration, Source Code Control systems, etc. Provide a short blurb about each item listed and why it's good. And 4) provide a guesstimate of how long you think it will take. More on this in the next bullet point.
- To estimate projects follow this process: 1) break the project down into major steps you'll need to follow to complete the project. This would normally be something like building infrastructure, security, each major section of the application, etc, etc, etc. This is an art and is learned through experiance. Add 33% more for meetings and project management. Add 33% more for trouble shooting and debugging. Add 33% more for post deployment support. Make it very clear to your client that this is *just a guess* based on experiance. As a part of your project management strategy hold at least weekly meetings with your client to show them what you've accomplished, tell them what you're working on, and update them on anything that has taken longer or changed in scope on the project and how that impacts your estimate. Your contact should allow them to cancel at any time. The combination of your initial guess and your weekly updates, combined with the knowledge they can pull the plug at any time gives your client confidence in your project and comfort to pay hourly.
- Invoice bi-weekly and give a discount for payment in the first week. We give 3% discount for early payment in our standard contract. We get good cash flow and our clients save money.
- To find leads for projects I recommend that you network. There are many professional networking organizations out there as well as your local chambers of commerce. Also, attend conferences in your technical expertise. Submit topics to those conferences and try to talk at them. Write for technical journals. Most of these are very easy to get into. In terms of sales, don't try to sell. Instead listen to the problems your leads have and tell
Time and materials is essential when you have clients who can't make up their minds. Usually, start these people off with a bidded job, but take any change to the project as an excuse to concert the job to "T&M".
T&M is the best situation for the vendor to be in. It is the worst situation for the client to be in. A bid job puts pressure on the vendor. The threat of T&M forces the client to lock down their decisions.
This goes for just about any contract job. not just IT or webdev.
Malama
I have to disagree. I do a fair bit of freelance stuff on the side and I have never (not once) had trouble getting paid. At first I was very cautious but it just has not been an issue. Even on jobs where I'm basically dealing with an email address in another country the check has always cleared.
I terms of contracts don't waste your time. A contract is only worth anything if you can enforce it. Are you really going to spend thousands in legal fees going after a few thousand in wages. Just make sure they pay you as milestones are delivered and don't worry too much.
I second this. As someone that had trouble getting paid when I started out, I have to acknowledge it was my own fault for doing work for either friends, or friends of friends that were just starting out. Or sometimes taking a chance on a shady character or bad referral. Unless you want to spend a lot of time and money in court, signed contracts won't help you.
In addition signed contracts will scare off more legitimate customers and cost you more time than they are worth. Just make sure you are dealing with a company that is a viable business, write a good bid/estimate, use common sense and MOST IMPORTANTLY require a fractional payment up front (1/3 for large jobs and 1/2 for small jobs.).
Also, to elaborate on your question about fixed bids versus hourly rates, the answer is both. Most clients are going to want an estimate and you are going to be stuck to something near that number after you pull it out of your ass. So keep track of your hours so you can make better estimates in the future. And make sure both you and your client understand expectations and deliverables so you can increase the dollar amount *WHEN* your client starts moving the goal posts. You'll also want an hourly rate for any down-the-road maintenance or ancillary services you might provide. After a few years in business 80% of my income comes from 4 clients that provide me with a steady stream of work, billed at an hourly rate. Those clients started off as fixed bid projects that grew and grew until I was an important enough part of their business that they had to keep me around. And I don't know about you, but I would rather have a steady stream of work from known clients I trust than be making cold calls or spending money advertising to find new work. Which reminds me, the other 20% of my work comes from referrals from those 4 clients.
First rule of freelancing:
When you find good paying clients, treat them like gold and they will return the favor.
Good Luck!