[consulting] Gouging Stupid Clients

[Eric Tucker]

----- Original Message -----
> From: "Alex Pavlovic" <alex.pavlovic at taskforce-1.com>
> To: consulting at drupal.org
> Sent: Thursday, February 23, 2012 11:21:14 AM
> Subject: Re: [consulting] Gouging Stupid Clients
> Hi Jamie,
> You must be very good with estimating large and complex projects if
> you can give fixed quotes like that. What if the project
> goes over your estimated budget? Do you re-negotiate it or simply do
> the work for free? We found that for large projects it
> is normally best to work with client on an hourly basis, so it's fair
> to both parties and ensures precise billing is done. There
> is lot of unknowns when dealing with large and complex projects.
> Requirements may also change during the development
> phase which furthmore complicates the fixed price approach. However a
> rough quote or price estimate can be given to the
> client so they understand what the ballpark figure may look like
> before you start the work.
If the project is large and complex, you may not be able to give a fixed quote right off the bat. Some clients may be amenable to a bit of "front-end" work to determine the scope/requirements. Work closely with the client to agree on requirements while bringing plenty of your own ideas to the table, and write a requirements document which becomes your deliverable. Charge hourly for this phase. Once the requirements are well specified and well agreed on, you will have a better idea of what the rest of the project will entail ... putting you in a better position to come up with a fixed price for the remainder of the work. Furthermore, this can be turned around and used to form a more detailed RFP. If your client chooses to use it as a RFP, you may even go into competitive bidding against others. Whether or not you win, you have been paid your initial fee, and the client is not entirely empty handed as they do have a deliverable that takes some of the guesswork out of later stages. Not all clients will go for this, and your client will need to be at a certain level of sophistication to appreciate the approach. Also, you will need to be able to deliver a solid set of requirements. A client you have done a smaller project successfully for or if your name comes by way of a trusted referral may be more amenable to such an approach. Eric
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