All Questions
2,017
questions
11
votes
2
answers
372
views
How do you explain a higher rate in person than what you've quoted in an email?
At the time of answering an email, I quoted a company overseas by X/hr based on the assumption that I would be building with ABC technology stack.
During discussion over the phone, it turns out we ...
11
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Should an agreement with software engineer contractor include a clause that the engineer is not liable of any company's losses?
I've got a job offer from the company in Ireland to work as an independent software engineer contractor (not an employee). The Agreement contains clauses that I indemnify the company from lots of (...
11
votes
4
answers
377
views
I.T home support - protecting myself
I'm looking to get some extra work and start my own I.T support business for home users only.
Examples of work:
- Working on computers in front of the client
- Clients drop off computers, I fix them, ...
10
votes
3
answers
7k
views
Am I charging my client too much for my SLA - Service level agreement?
So I have secured a project worth 6 figures for an employee management system that will manage his employees for 4 of his companies. This employee management system will integrate a biometric hardware ...
10
votes
5
answers
14k
views
Is there any difference between outsourcing and subcontracting?
Just what the title states.
How does outsourcing differ from subcontracting? Is it merely terminology that is different?
10
votes
3
answers
595
views
How do I answer the "How much will it cost" question when researching a development task that has unknown variables?
If I have a client who is asking me to solve an automation problem that involves integrating different software solutions, like a payment gateway and a form builder tool, for instance, and we don't ...
10
votes
4
answers
305
views
Formality of contracts
I'm currently taking on one or two odd jobs, but without formal contracts. While these two in particular won't likely require contracts, I still would like to present one.
Is there a particular ...
10
votes
2
answers
311
views
How to manage a client's expectations
So I am running in to a bit of an issue, and although there are similar questions on FL nothing this specific:
How do I manage a client's expectations for a new website?
The issue arises when they ...
10
votes
5
answers
534
views
How much bookkeeping or accounting knowledge is necessary when going freelance?
I have recently been asked how much accounting knowledge someone should have when becoming self-employed. I am somewhat biased since I write accounting software, and so I am afraid of overestimating ...
10
votes
2
answers
687
views
How do open source projects come up with their sponsorship prices?
I have an open-source project that gets ~15K views and ~2K downloads per week. I just got an email from a company willing to be a sponsor for the project. The email says "What's your sponsoring price?"...
10
votes
2
answers
790
views
Client asked me to remove copyright and name from licensed code
I have a client who used a licensed script as a foundation to their site. They paid for the license and it is a lifetime, single-site license. There are no more details than that concerning the ...
10
votes
1
answer
2k
views
How Do I Start my Own Freelancing Company?
I am a Web developer with over 4 years experience, and I currently work for a company. Now, I want to start my own company. How can I get work and clients?
I know about few sites, like freelancer....
10
votes
1
answer
8k
views
Making a quotation for creating a website (design and development)?
My client is requesting a general quotation about the design and development of their site. What I need is the specifications that I should evaluate the quotation on, such as if I need to host the ...
10
votes
1
answer
324
views
Working per hour, where do you draw the line?
Take for example a (software development) project that has been estimated by the freelancer as N hours on a pay-per-hour contract.
From the perspective of the commissioner, how much buffer should be ...
10
votes
4
answers
928
views
From Agency to Freelance - What Should I Charge?
I have been asked back for one week at an establishment that I used to work for. In the past, whenever I worked for Establishment A, I would go through an agency, Agency B.
However, Establishment A ...
10
votes
4
answers
39k
views
Is an agreement by email reply enough to act as a signature in a legal contract?
I am about to start a contract with a remote client and want to start quickly. Rather than sending a signed contract by "snail mail" for them to sign and return, would it be enough to email the ...
10
votes
3
answers
262
views
How an EXPERIENCED programmer can switch to freelancing?
First off, sorry for the caps in the title, but I did that for a good reason.
Most sites and blog articles out there go something like, "How a beginner can start freelancing with no experience". ...
10
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Should I offer to refund an upfront payment for a job I failed to complete?
I work part time as a freelancer at odesk. Recently, I got a fixed price job of around 6 hours. I requested a 10% upfront payment for the job. However, after spending 1:30 hours trying to do the job, ...
10
votes
1
answer
8k
views
When is it safe to give Tax ID to Remote Employer
When arranging to do work remotely, how can you verify that the client is legitimate and that you can trust them with your personal tax ID (social security number in the US)?
In the US, employers are ...
10
votes
1
answer
106
views
Charity or Nonprofit Support Services - What are the possible options?
If I wish to start freelancing with the sole purpose of providing support services (in this case, IT), to Charities and Nonprofits what are the possible options under which I can provide these ...
10
votes
1
answer
141
views
Claiming use of home as office allowance if the work is unpaid
Can I claim the use of home as office allowance if the work that I perform there is (currently) unpaid? I am currently working on a web project that I'm developing in my office at home. I'm spending a ...
10
votes
3
answers
481
views
Formalities and steps when getting from an initial contact to a contract (and templates of documents used during these steps)
I have actually been looking for information on how to do consulting work (software development) as a small business. In this case I would be the sole owner of a company (or a sole proprietor).
What ...
10
votes
2
answers
448
views
What is good share ratio when you outsource projects due to lack of time?
Many times in past I had more projects that I could handle myself. Most times the clients are so pushy that you simply cannot tell them that you don't have time. They like your work and they want to ...
10
votes
1
answer
751
views
Out of State Lawsuit for Payment
I'm at the point that I have to sue a client for non-payment. It's large enough that I can't afford to write it off, but small enough for small claims.
According to the U.S. law I've researched, you ...
10
votes
2
answers
2k
views
How do I calculate the cost (to me) of one hour of work?
I often stand in the situation where I can choose between doing something myself or outsourcing it to someone else. Or I have a chance to so some extra work in a situation where they are not able to ...
10
votes
1
answer
247
views
I was robbed by Upwork, what do I do?
I've been happily using Upwork three years ago as a freelancer. Recently I've logged in again and tried as a client. I had one contract performed successfully and had money in escrow for the second ...
10
votes
3
answers
795
views
Freelancing in Germany: am I a Freiberufler or Gewerbe?
I arrived to Germany recently and do not yet speak German. I would like to do some work in my spare time which consists of creating visual artwork.
In Germany, it is important for tax purposes to ...
9
votes
8
answers
5k
views
Buying a domain for your client
I own a web development company. We were approached by an individual who had purchased a company and planned to rebuild the website and rebrand. Right after the call we found and purchased the domain ...
9
votes
3
answers
669
views
How does a developer determine they are qualified to be hired as a freelance developer?
I have been studying iOS development on my own for about 8 months. I'm pretty comfortable in my ability to build a small app with a clean UI, but don't know the entire API in and out.
How does a ...
9
votes
6
answers
496
views
Client owes me substantial money, I got another job full-time, client wants me to hand over keys to next developer without payment
I have a small business client who I freelanced for before getting my current full-time php development & server administration job. Let's call the client "Joe's Pizza" (not actual name).
Joe's ...
9
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Risks of giving friend-clients a discount: price discrimination?
It seems normal to charge friends, relatives, neighbours, etc. a lower price than people you don't know at all. However, wouldn't that be price discrimination, and isn't that a crime?
I don't want to ...
9
votes
4
answers
2k
views
Developer Portfolio - screenshots and codesamples?
I'm a developer with extensive work experience in Web Development and a few years experience with Iphone (IOS) development as well too. Most of my experience has been full time with big companies, ...
9
votes
4
answers
516
views
Sending a bill without delivering a product
I got a question about sending a bill, without actually delivering a product.
I have made a complete new website for a client and it is almost ready, but now the client is very busy with a fusion of 2 ...
9
votes
6
answers
3k
views
Should I ask every client to sign a contract?
Should I ask every client to sign a contract? In other words, does it show professionalism or does it turn people off? Should I ask for a contract if the job is a certain length or certain ...
9
votes
7
answers
482
views
Client suspended dev work, but still wants fixes
I have a long term development client that recently needed to suspend development due to some financial issues on his side. Up until now for most of this year I've been on an hourly time commitment ...
9
votes
5
answers
347
views
How to deal with projects that have gone on too long?
I have a project where the client initially requested a bunch of work. Not too much work and a decent pay. Now here's where it's not fun anymore.
The client has requested to basically rewrite all of ...
9
votes
8
answers
2k
views
Should I charge a client who does not come to a code help appointment?
I agreed to help a new client refactor a piece of code. This is a simple task that should not take more than a couple of hours. He agreed to pay me my hourly rate.
He didn't come to the meeting, ...
9
votes
5
answers
300
views
Client wants manual for everything I do
So I am a software engineer and currently have lots of clients that I create and maintain websites in WordPress.
One of my clients, who I have a maintenance contract with(fixed $ / month) wants to ...
9
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Asking Clients to pay Advance Payment?
I am a freelance Android Developer in India. Normally I get local clients, from India only. When I talk about the payment, I ask all my clients to make 50% payment before initiating the project, ...
9
votes
4
answers
399
views
Freelancer turned into an agency
I have a start-up project and I found a freelancer on oDesk.com. The freelancer agreed to my terms and conditions that she would work on commission base. All communication went well and when I ...
9
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Starting out, how much to charge for development, hosting and maintenance?
I live in New York City, and am hoping to go around and sell my service as a contract job. I'll be making static websites with good design and a contact form for clients, but I won't add advanced ...
9
votes
4
answers
546
views
Collecting final payments from clients who disappear without making full payment?
How to collect final payments from users who run away after taking the product and paying only half?
What is a proven model or method to release product by parts and secure final part of the ...
9
votes
3
answers
688
views
Seeking advice on web design startup
Can anyone with experience in running a start-up software/web design business give me a few solid recommendations on how your general client experience works?
I'm interested in what sort of ...
9
votes
3
answers
4k
views
Is it good to get paid in advance and then start project development?
Most of the clients are prompt and pay the money on completion of the project. While some companies agree to pay the amount as soon as project delivery, it never happens as expected.
The reasons they ...
9
votes
4
answers
341
views
Dealing with a customer that was satisfied with your services but is mad about the price
SUMMARY: A customer is satisfied with the quality of services she received but realizes, after the fact, that other service providers charge less. Although there is a difference in the quality of ...
9
votes
5
answers
1k
views
Monthly Fee vs. One-Time Payment for a Large Project with Difficult Client
PROBLEM:
A client of mine has asked me to prepare a quote for a rather large project that will take several months to complete. I've worked with this client on multiple projects in the past, and I ...
9
votes
7
answers
10k
views
Can I use logos of companies I have worked for, directly & indirectly, on my website?
I am redesigning my website to show my skills and experience, and I thought it would be a nice idea to have the logos of companies I have worked for and with (directly and indirectly). I'm wondering ...
9
votes
6
answers
4k
views
Client threatening to take legal actions -- How should I have prevented this?
I recently was in the mockup stage with a client (with whom I didn't enter any contract or anything) and provided him mockups of designs. I asked for an upfront (very small just because he was first ...
9
votes
5
answers
4k
views
Freelance graphic design without true work experience or degree
I'm wondering if there are places where people submit jobs in graphic design and where people can submit results, all without the process of an interview or a hiring system. I feel that I'm a pretty ...
9
votes
5
answers
1k
views
How do I start my Freelancer career?
I'm from Brazil, I have more than 5 years of experience with ASP.NET, and was recently certified as MCSD Web Development. There's no freelancer market here in Brazil, only full time boring jobs ...