Clients, control through contract

The number of clients my small business has managed to obtain is still very small, three in total so far. But never-the-less I have learnt quite a few important details that MUST be dealt with when the original deal is made. This blog post is both a warning to others and an important note to myself.

1. Make sure you have the rights to display the work in a portfolio as your own

This goes a lot further than I originally thought. While it is very important to gain the rights to display the work as your own, in the case of your portfolio it can help to gain the rights to host the original work on your site. Recently I have discovered that old clients have altered their website in a clumsy manner that has changed the paths for images and other links. While I have the rights to display this work as my own, linking to it from my portfolio hurts my reputation rather than helping it.

2. Make sure you strictly make clear how much input they can put into changes and when this is possible

Recently I had a project that was meant to end abruptly on the fifth day. They were not interested in paying for anymore time on development and as such had dedicated only a set number of days. However at lunch time on the final day (a day which was listed in the original contract as being for validation of the website and final content additions) they asked for major changes to the layout and images of the site. While during this project this didn't cause too many problems in the future during larger projects it could be a massive dilemma.

3. Define the exact breadth of the project

There is nothing worse than getting into a project and getting asked if a section of the project can be a little bit bigger (asking if the developer can organise a viral video etc.). This must be avoided at all costs.

4. If you think that the project may be flexible (ie. might require more work) define the costs of this in the original contract

In some cases (especially creative ones) the client might ask for a change in the feel of work. To avoid not getting payed for this work it can help to define an hourly rate of work rather than a strict total project cost.

I may end up coming back to this list as things crop up.

- Fae