20
LLCs were created for just this scenario: you're an individual or small business who wants to enjoy the protections being a company or corporate entity entails without becoming a full-blown corporation.
An LLC allows you to operate as an individual without putting your personal assets at risk. You pay taxes as an individual (in the US anyways) but enjoy ...
16
The easiest thing is to shut down all, but what if the client is sick or something. Chances are 90% that they don't want to pay you, but there are still 10% which you need to consider. This is all true if you expect more work from them and if you really like the project.
Do you have a direct contact with the client? Do Skype call to his mobile and see what ...
15
Time management is an issue and you have to figure out how to meet with customers if working a standard schedule full time. The larger issues are legal. You want to read over your employment contract a few times looking at the specifics of:
Moonlighting clauses. When I worked at Microsoft, the contract said I had to have their permission to do any work ...
15
An LLC protects you from personally from all creditors, whether they be customers, shareholders, or other parties. Liability for business activities is limited to the LLC's assets; yours are protected.
Nolo's LLC Basics describes this well:
Like shareholders of a corporation, all LLC owners are protected from personal liability for business debts and ...
15
Client wants me to steal secret plans from the CEO of his competing company.
He sent an email today detailing where I can find the plans, how to break into his offices, and a schedule for when the break in would be best.
Do you think you are blameless if you break in and steal the plans?
If the police arrest you for breaking into the office, do you think you'...
14
You need to shut it down ASAP. Chances are that by now, your "client" has cloned all of your work, which is not hard to do at all, and put it up on a different domain. I put the word client in quotes because, without a written contract, you really don't have anything that would prove how the other party is a "client". You may never see a cent from this ...
14
Generate an invoice marked "past due". Send certified. That's all you can really do in your case, at this step, without getting an attorney involved. The $10,000 is probably more than any state's small claims process.
Other than that, don't lift a FINGER until you've been paid in full. You might hear your client trying to bargain with you, but you've ...
13
Unless UK tax law has some strange twist, your own labor always zeros itself out. Imagine that you actually paid yourself, and you could claim that expense as the cost of doing business. However, you would also now have new income (from your new client - yourself). The income amount is equal to the expense amount; the net is zero.
13
As someone said, you should consult your lawyer. He will read the agreement you both signed and then see if they are right or wrong. Most companies sign binding contracts with their developers which do not allow that their employee work in the same branch. For example, if your company develops slots machines, then you are not allowed to do such coding after ...
11
Besides liability limitation, which Paperjam covered well in his answer, LLCs also provides tax flexibility. You can elect to have your LLC taxed as a disregarded entity or as a corporation. As a disregarded entity, it's as if you there was no LLC. As a corporation, there is more paperwork; however, besides paying yourself ordinary wages, depending on your ...
10
It should be remembered that with any form of Limited Liability structure (LLC, Ltd, PLC) etc the liability is limited only to the shareholders or members.
In the event of a company failing, other than losing their investment, shareholders/members are only liable for any unpaid share purchase money (or nil, if all shares are fully paid up).
Beyond that, ...
10
No, you cannot start working and billing under the name of a legal entity that does not (yet) exist.
You can certainly start work on the project, but as of now, you are still working as a sole proprietor. You would not be covered under any of the legal protections provided by the LLC. And you cannot retroactively claim the work was done "under the ...
10
I'm a freelance web developer and security researcher, so my experience may be a little biased.
In general, web development is a pretty insecure mess. More experienced developers are generally seen as more security-focused programmers; you first learn to program, then you learn to program well, then you learn to program securely.
In general, if your client ...
9
Life's too short..
You have 2 choices....
Invoice for the work you've completed. Wait until that invoice is paid. Then tell him you're done.
You'll package everything and prepare to deliver things in their
current state and he will be free to find another developer to
finish the project.
Be quiet, sit back, and realize your only option is to deal with the
...
9
Sounds like you're using Upwork? If not, let me know and I'll adjust this.
Personally, I've been using Upwork for over a year and pretty much stopped using it because of low-quality clients.
If there was no issue with your work during the development process and the client was able to see your work and then all of a sudden is not happy, that's a little ...
9
Unless you receive payment, I don't believe you are obligated to do anything.
It's your fault to some degree for letting outstanding invoices "build up over time". You should never allow that to happen for any client. If they haven't paid you they don't own anything.
I would not even entertain transfer of anything until payment has been made in full. And ...
8
Many states do not allow an LLC to be formed for professionals who require a license (e.g. lawyers, engineers, accountants). A PLLC is intended for licensed professionals who require the benefits of an LLC.
A professional limited liability company (“PLLC”) is a business entity
designed for licensed professions, such as lawyers, doctors,
architects, ...
8
In India:
If you are in India - then no, there is no legal requirement for you to register yourself as a freelancer. However, if you are directly involved with Govt. contracting then you must hold a valid Govt. issued license. As of your income, you must pay your income taxes regardless. If you are getting paid directly to your bank account then it would be ...
8
If I received the same call and the client started barking requests at me before I could even figure out to whom I was speaking, I think I'd become a bit defensive.
I think it's always important, as a creative professional, that you're able to engage with the client at a certain pace. My "pace" includes:
Who are you?
What line of business are you in?
What ...
8
Unless your contract specifically states that you own all rights or the right to resell/redistribute the work... then NO you do not have the right to resell or redistribute anything under any circumstance.
If you do not have rights, then adding a "credit" is meaningless. However, a contract can stipulate that reselling or distributing is permissible if a ...
7
You don't have to receive wages to claim home office as a business expense, however, you do need to use the office exclusively for that business and not for personal purposes.
For the US, see this summary from TurboTax for more detailed information.
For the UK, as long as the office space has no other use for the time you are working you can deduct the ...
7
How far overdue are they? Do you have any language in your contract about payment due dates? If you don't, you should -- managing expectations is the most important. Both you and client should be clearly understood about deliverables and deadlines.
In your current case, start by contacting them both by email (establish a paper trail) and phone to discuss ...
7
No matter what is the behavior of the customer, being aggressive and insulting never helps. In some countries, it can, indeed, allow your customer to take legal actions against you for defamation/slandering.
Another consequence is that the insulting e-mail can find its way to internet. What if, a few years later, a potential customer—a large corporation, ...
7
Preface: I am not now, nor have I ever been a lawyer. For legal advice it is always best to ask someone trained in the versatility of the law.
A contract is a written agreement which shows a "meeting of the minds". Email can be just that. It's my understanding that, while not as iron-clad as a physical signature, an email can be used to show intent and ...
7
Leave this dude alone. You're going to get burned. There is nothing particular to web site development that this guy is doing.
Let's look at this objectively. This is someone who you don't have any vested relationship with -- an acquaintance; not a close friend or family member. To add, he hasn't even become a customer!!! Yet he felt it was okay to ...
7
In our line of work we sell two things:
Our work (outright) and the rights to copyright it, OR
The right to use the work (a license), and retain the copyright.
We use the first approach when it's unlikely that we can market the same work to other interested parties because of its uniqueness. We hand it off. The client can use it, or flush it down the ...
7
Although open-ended, I'll try to address it as best as possible.
GET A CONTRACT DRAWN UP ASAP! Do not offer remote support, except to those you know quite well, and personally.
The contract should be signed before you take in the system, and before you touch it. It should explain that you are a professional, but shit happens... Essentially. It needs to ...
7
If you two have no contract, then what is he breaching? on the other hand, the mutual understanding is valid in front of the law.
I'd say that he was not acting correctly, from what you wrote. He should have given you more tasks. And if not being satisfied, he should have told you that. So if this comes to the arbitration, I'd say that email are enough of ...
7
Ignore it. If escrow was used for payments, they had to relinquish their hold on the escrow.... if they did so without approving of the work, it's not your problem.
Bullying you into more work, or a return of funds, is just that, bullying. If they fail to go through stated channels, it's even more a case of just plain bullying. You do have a contract with ...
6
This has bitten many people involved in work-for-hire situations.
I feel like this is kind-of a cop-out on an answer, but honestly, it depends a very great deal on what kind of work you're doing, and I think Harvard Law School's Professor Terry Fisher has already answered your question with incredibly elaborate detail in Lecture 6 (entitled, The Mechanics ...
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