[consulting] Lessons learned from consulting

[Sami Khan]

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Sami

On Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:01:11 -0700, Sami Khan <sami at etopian.net> wrote:
> I have had my own bad experiences in the Drupal industry. The worst
> probably being sub-contracted by a company on the West Coast of the US.
> Involved attacking me personally in front of a non-profit client and
> threats of law suits both from me and them. Frivolous claims such as
> such as taking me to court for bad code, bug fixing, and hurting their
> business, (this despite the standard GPL clause), it was all a ruse in
> order to keep from paying me which was mainly due to the client running
> out of funds, and them deciding that I should be the one who should bear
> the weight for that. I settled with the for 1/5 of what I owed as at the
> time I was not inclined to go to court and the facts were not very clear
> on paper, i.e. lack of a solid contract, and it would make quite a bit
> more of a mess then I particularly wanted to at the time. 
> 
> Lesson learned from all of my experiences thus far to help the
> community:
> 
> 1) Never work without a contract, have a nice detailed disclaimer on
> your contract to make clear what you will or will not do.
> 2) Refuse to do any work if there is no contract (and do not feel any
> obligation to do anything), even if continuing a relationship.
> 3) Ask for a good portion of the contract up front.
> 4) If the company (SMEs only) is loaded with managers or people who are
> the owners of the company and can't code worth shit, GTFO, as they are
> simply adding cost for their dead weight... Further they are getting in
> the way of communication with the client. In the end, this means that
> they may get the specs wrong and blame you for the results, both
> personally and in the eyes of the client. Unless you feel particularly
> that they are adding something that you cannot add.
> 5) If the people involved are particularly good at debate, don't expect
> to get anything done, and simply take them to small claims court with
> the contract in hand. Do not attempt to argue with them any further, as
> its a waste of time. They will make up all sorts of assertions and lies
> and confound progress and might even try to get you in trouble with the
> law, etc. Further, in court do not attempt to debate them, simply
> present the facts, call attention to the fact that they are good at
> debate, and that they are good at distorting the fact because of it.
> 6) If you wish to expose someone, simply do it, threatening to do it can
> get you in more trouble.
> 7) If the company is filled with incompetent people who like to bill
> hours for arbitrary things, sooner or later you are going to get
> screwed. If it sounds too good to be true, it is.
> 8) Work directly with clients, never be sub-contracted (unless perhaps
> by IBM or another big brand), as that's a way to add costs to your
> clients, and potentially puts you at significantly greater risk than
> working with clients. Considering how expensive IT projects can get with
> even a single person, adding more dead weight to the mix is asking for
> trouble.
> 9) If you give a solid estimate, then make a contract that says
> explicitly what that involves, and then refuse to do any more work.
> Needless to say this is going to lead to frustration both from you and
> the client, and so either don't go down this path or explain to the
> client that this is the case and that they are likely to be frustrated
> in the future -- do this diplomatically.
> 10) Bill on time, and if you don't get paid refuse to do any more work.
> 11) There are plenty of douche bags everywhere, and people who think
> they are managers are particularly good douche bags.
> 12) Look out for yourself, and never expect anyone is looking out for
> you. This goes for any and all employees, and people participating in
> our economic system.
> 
> If you have any lessons, please be free to share them too.
> 
> Sami
> 
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