What To Do When Web Projects Drag On...
Ilise Benun
Business Coach & Mentor for Designers, Copywriters & Creative Pros. Let me help you get better clients with bigger budgets.
A web designer asked me this question:
I do fixed-priced web design contracts. I get half the fee up-front, and the remainder when completed. Here’s the rub … One of the projects has been dragging on for almost a year because they’ve dragged their feet. I just asked for the final payment, and they agreed, but to avoid this in the future—should I have some sort of a time limit on my agreements?
Here’s my answer:
The problem occurs when you tie payments to the milestones of the project and your cash flow suffers when things get held up. Instead, tie payments to the calendar. Take a percentage as a deposit to start, then a monthly fee over the course of the anticipated timeframe of the project. So if it’s a 4 month project, they pay a percentage on the 1st of each month for 3 more months. That way, they’re paying despite the delays. And if nothing else, it forces a conversation when there’s a delay and it can be negotiated.
I cover this topic (and much more about pricing!) in session 3 of my CreativeLive course, Command the Fees You Deserve. If you don’t have it yet, find it here—and be sure to check out my 43 reviews!
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9 年I recently started tying payments to calendar dates, it's a huge improvement for my sanity and helps keep the project on track. Thanks!
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10 年The solution is simple - You both sign a contract with expected delivery time. If the project is held up X amount of time due to the client being slow to respond or get you what you need, the payment penalties incur. If the deadline is totally blown because of client incompetence, the contracted work becomes null and void, and the balance is due immediately. This may seem harsh, but it's one of the only ways to protect yourself IMO.
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10 年I adapted what a friend of mine does for most of our projects- 50% up front, 40% after x-time (usually a month) synced with something the client does (like a scheduled revision), and 10% upon completion.
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10 年When we do web projects we get a percentage up front, a percentage when the first draft is ready and the last tiny percentage upon completion or within a set period of time - whichever comes first. Since the hold up is usually the client getting us more content and we've done all we can, it's only fair they pay the balance due even if they haven't given us everything we need. It works as an incentive also for them to get everything to us that's needed.
Business Coach & Mentor for Designers, Copywriters & Creative Pros. Let me help you get better clients with bigger budgets.
10 年Timing is everything, Jennifer Phillips April