A few years go by and the home is just as wonderful as it was to you that first day it was called finished so many months ago. It has kept your family warm and created a lot everlasting memories, but you feel it could use some brightening up. So tools in hand you set out to install a new skylight all on your own. After all you have seen it done on television many a time, you’ve read a number of home improvement books and by golly you are pretty handy.

Ah it’s wonderful, the fruits of your own labor. The kitchen is so much brighter now! All is well.

Then one day the heavy rains come in. It’s an absolute disaster, apparently there was a minor mistake up above that now has your wood floor looking like some one left a giant class of water on Grandma’s old finished table.

Well, only one thing left to do. Time to call the original roofer (we of course know he does good work) and break out the old checkbook. After all he’s not going to do it for free!

The last line holds true in most cases if the roof simply becomes “out of date” and let’s not even begin to imagine how true it might be if you decide to fire a rocket launcher from your living room!

On thing that struck me in this article was the suggestion for the inclusion of a section that deals with how you will handle and charge for any issues caused by third party contributions to the project. By third party I mean designers/developers that are hired by your client to develop certain smaller parts of the project. The ‘third party’ developers were not chosen or approved by you as the lead designer/developer on the project.

While I will not go into the benefits of being given the freedom to choose your own trusted sub-contractors, or at least the right to approve those chosen, I will give an example situation.

Let us say that you are working on a project, you are for the most part the project lead. You are doing the majority of design and development work as a freelancer. Your client wishes to include certain specialty ‘add-ons’ in the project and has already contacted a developer that will take the lead on these add-ons.

A few weeks the add ons are packed and shipped to you for inclusion to the site. Upon opening the scripts involved and installing them you begin to notice certain issues with them.

At the very least the add ons do not validate according to your coding standards and are written in outdated code. With add ons that do not validate you are left with an entire project that does not validate, something which is important to you. Basically this means that you are faced with a decision to either fix the code or release a project that is not up to your standard. Obviously the second option could be detrimental to your reputation as a designer/developer.

However validating the code will take a considerable amount of time, time that was not planned for in the overall estimate of the project.

Without a clause in the contract that addresses a situation similar to this you are stuck having to make the decision to eat the cost or release work that is below your standards.

You are also in a bind to extend the timeline should it require a considerable amount of time to make the fixes. Neither scenario is something that your client is going to want to hear.

While some clients will be understanding of the situation given that you have taken the time to explain, you are better protected to negotiate this type of extra if you have addressed it in the contract.

Personally I would prefer to choose or at the very least sign off on any sub-contractors or add ons for the project. However if the decision has been made and the outside additions to the project adversely effect the quality or implementation of the project I would require that I be compensated for any additional work associated with fixing the situation.

Obviously if you do choose the sub-contractor or add-ons for inclusion in the project and things go badly you will be taking responsibility. Unless perhaps you are a smooth talker.

As freelancers we are often faced with the situation in which one project may account for two to three months pay. I am talking about the kind of project that does not allow for any other open projects which would create a substantial income. I am also assuming that you have repeat clients whom you may perform one or two tasks for during the time you work on this large project, but again nothing that constitutes a substantial paycheck. Bottom line is you are relying on this project to keep the bills paid.

Keep in mind I will not be addressing cash reserves you may have in the business to keep you funcitoning in times of delayed income. This article is to look at project delays or cancellations and how I have been considering them in my contracts.

Moving on with the example project. I assume that you have received the appropriate down payment to begin work and have set out the terms of payment for the life of the project so that you will be compensated in a way that allows you to continue functioning as a business throughout. For example you have broken the payments into 4 equal parts, one at the beginning, one at the end and two in between.

You are happily past the design/prototyping stages and well into the development. In fact you are about 90% through to the third milestone or payment in the project and boom, the project is put on hold. Remember now that you have been paid twice at this point but have worked the last three weeks since and are now just days away from your third installment. Three weeks is a long time to go without a paycheck, especially considering that you have pushed out all other potential projects past the completion date of the project currently in motion.

Combating Delays and Indefinite Holds

It’s going to happen at some point in your career, a project will be delayed, postponed or other wise cancelled. The first step towards combating it is planning for it.

Address delays early on and put them in your contract. Delays can be caused by review periods that run over. Clearly define your review periods, when they will take place, the time allotted and the actions that will be taken if they run over.

0.1 Indefinite holds or cancellation of project.

I believe the best way to address this is by adding a short clause in your contract that states payment terms should a project be delayed or put in indefinite hold. Perhaps you agree that you will be paid for all work performed up to the point of delay based on a pre defined number of days that constitutes an indefinite delay. Another point to consider is, what if you are more than 90% done with a project and it is cancelled or delayed indefinitely just before launch. I recommend that a clause be in place stating that you will be paid in full if a project is past a certain percentage when put on delay. For example if you are past milestone two and on your way to three, calculate how far your are towards three and charge appropriately. If you state these terms in your contract beforehand it will be easier to address them should they come up and you are more likely to be paid.

0.2 Extra padding.

Address delays caused by change in scope. Sure a minor change that may take another half day of development time to implement will probably not disrupt the entire project or subsequent projects. However a change that can take considerable, let’s say a week of extra development time, will not only throw off the current project but quite possibly effect subsequent projects.

Address in your contract how these changes may effect both project timeline, payment schedules and accounting for subsequent and pre-scheduled projects.

For example if you find yourself working on a project that due to changes will run two weeks over, you can’t necessarily tell Company B (your next project) that their project will be delayed two weeks due to changes on your current contract. However Company A is not always receptive to the fact that their project although extended appropriately for the requested changes may be extended further due to contract obligations with other companies.

This final one seems to be a bit trickier and I have yet to find the perfect solution. Any thoughts here are appreciated.

I have yet to find a way to account for everything but by continuously adapting the way I do business I feel that I am able to protect myself and business in most cases.

I also suspect that I am not the only one who looks to prepare for these possibilities when it comes to contracts. I am interested to hear others take on these issues.

Fostering good relationships, providing value, producing results beyond expectation, it’s all part of “going the extra mile”.

I take a lot of pride in two very important aspects to my business, creating long lasting value and fostering good relationships. When I work with a client my hope is to have them come away from the job satisfied. Not only with the final product but with the knowledge that will allow them to use it successfully.

What does this do for my business? When these clients come away from the experience feeling like I have provided them a valuable service that goes beyond just getting the job done, they are more than likely to return in the future. They respect my professional opinion and have some trust in what I say. They are comfortable in working with me.

It’s a win win. Your client is happy because they are impressed and comfortable working with you. You have helped them to become more successful and you have saved them from repeating the overwhelming task of finding a new provider. On your end you are happy because you have come away with a happy client, a good relationship and return business.

What does going the extra mile mean? It means putting in extra care to build a relationship beyond just the focus on getting this project out the door.

The key is learning that you need to work with the client, business to business, and not for the client as an employee would. This of course can take some learning on both sides of the relationship, especially if you are working with a business that does in fact have a few or more employees of their own.

Don’t be afraid to do the job you were hired to do. If you are their to build this company an online solution for their business then do that, in it’s entirety. Which means taking the time to do the research, advising them on the best practices and explaining to them why their website needs to focus on their customers.

Equally as important, don’t be afraid to push back when you know it is the right thing to do. It’s not about battling your client it’s about advising them on why something may not be the best solution. Voice your opinion in a professional manner. It’s not always going to produce the intended outcome, but I personally believe that it helps to establish that professional working relationship that you are looking to build.

Help them learn. You don’t have to go into all the minute details of your profession but don’t be afraid to share a little. If something doesn’t make sense explain to them the why. Teach them a little about how their new site operates, help them to understand how it can be used to improve their business and what they need to do after it is all said and done to continue building on it’s success.

Most of all make it your mission to create a professional working relationship. You don’t need to come away from this with a drinking buddy, but you should come away with it having a mutual respect for each other and each others place of business.

If your client feels like they are in good hands, not only will they return but you can be sure they are going to tell their friends.

Don’t let it happen, breakdown your ground rules, your legalities and how you are going to bid each project before you ever need to write that first bid, proposal or contract. Figure out how you are going to gather (and sometimes pry) the important information from a client that will help you establish goals and develop scope for the project. Research your particular industry, find out what to watch how for, how to protect yourself and how to bid correctly.

Note: The next article in this series will cover working with your client to understand and develop goals, vision and desired results.

Then prepare to keep revising because just when you think you have it all covered a client will through you a curveball. As with everything in business you will need to constantly adapt, refine and figure out your best route when it comes to the paperwork.

This is by no means to be read as the final word in developing your own paperwork but as a guide to help the relatively new and inexperienced freelancer. It is a article written based of research and a lot of my own experience. I highly recommend research as many other sources as possible, this is an important aspect of your business and a critical one to your success. Attached to the end of this article you will find a short list of resources that should provide you with and excellent starting point.

Let’s get started.

Research & Ask Questions

One of the keys to developing a successful proposal and project for that matter is figuring out what the project is all about. As mentioned above, figure out the goals, the basic and the finer elements of the project. Find out why this project is being put together. Learn something about who you are working with.

Be Critical

My lack of the finer details in paperwork has bit me in the rear more than once. I would venture to say that I have spent countless unbilled hours doing things that where not necessarily “included in the price” but due to the fine line and my lack of detail I found myself having to suck it up. Establish your project guidelines, responsibilities and timeline in writing. Let the client know what is and what is not included in the package as well as letting them know what will constitute additional man hours. I feel like the more detail I put into the paperwork the better for both of us.

Be Realistic

Be realistic in terms of both time and money. Be honest with yourself and your client when you provide timelines for the project given the scope. When you first start it may be tricky to gage exactly how long a given task is going to take you but you more than likely have some idea and you damn sure did your research. You may feel a bit of pressure from the client to provide them a two week timeline when you know that it is going to take at least four, don’t succumb to the pressure it will save you both a lot of undue stress in the end. Be realistic and explain to them why it is necessary we take four and not two weeks to do this right.

On the flip side of that. If the project requires a rush then set your pricing accordingly. Sure it is possibly but it may mean outsourcing as well as overtime for you.

Key Points

Scope Through research and interaction with the client you should formulate what exactly the project is going to entail. What the goals are, what the client wishes to achieve etc. I’m not sure that it is necessary to be detailed down to the pixel in determining scope but I am sure that more detail provides less leeway for the project to sprout a third and fourth leg while it is in progress.

That is not to say that the project is not aloud to grow a third and fourth leg but it should be clearly defined in your paperwork that when that the third and fourth leg will require nurturing and thus more time. It will also require more vitamins and thus more money. Define additions, changes etc and how you will approach them. Always require that a client submit these type of changes in writing, make them aware of how these changes or additions affect the cost and timeline, then get approval before proceeding.

Don’t tell the client they can’t change their mind or add another section once the project is in progress but be sure to let them know that how it will affect the original contract, pricing and timeline.

Timeline & Milestones Define your timeline. Each project has a start date and and end date defined, put it down in writing. In between the start and end date should be project milestones. Dependent on the length of the project it could be 2 or 20. Set the milestones and let them know what each milestone means. This will give you the opportunity to set up review periods. It will also give you the chance to establish very clearly when deliverable a will arrive.

Review Periods Closely related and in fact a part of the topic above is the subject of review periods. I personally like to set review periods to coinside with milestones. Normally and I am sure this will depend on the number of decision makers involved in the project, I like to set review periods of three days at each milestone. One after the brunt of the wireframing and design has been completed. On midway as the majority of the strucuture is in place and one final review. It is good to note here that the number of milestones and possible review periods may increase or decrease depending on the size of the project. The review period in question for me is the second or halfway point. I have found this one to once in a while cause uneeded headaches if done to early in the development phase.

Changes and Revisions
Clearly define how changes and revisions will be handled in this project. You may allow for revisions in the initial design phase, let your client know how many. Let them know how revisions to the project will be charged. Make them aware that changes can result in an extension of the timeline. When you come to one of these changes, clearly define how it will effect the project and be sure to get approval before moving forward.

Responsibilities Discuss with your client and define responsibilities. Be sure that your client understands that delays in the delivery of certain aspects of the project such as content can in turn delay the project as a whole.

Examples of possible client responsibilities:

1. Logo
2. Copy
3. Images

Non-deliverables
Client responsibilities don’t always fall into the realm of deliverables such as the few listed above. It is also their responsibility to provide feedback and use review periods appropriately to keep the project on track. As I mentioned above this is why I schedule a certain number of days into each project for review. A few days at a time seems to be more than enough when you are dealing with single business owners or a small team such as partners. As you through more decision makers into the mix you will need to account for the extra time it may take for review.

To Sign or Not to Sign
It’s a good question. For a long time I went on a their word and mine. For the most part I never ran into a huge problem with this, however I also started to see where putting it in writing and requiring a signature could be beneficial so I started requiring a sign off before proceeding with the project. I personally have found echo sign to work very well for this requirement.

A few excellent resources to get started:

• Web Design Contracts: Why Bother (Digital Web)
• How to Effectively Tackle a $50000 Freelance Project (Freelance Switch)
• Creating a Web Design Contract (ReEncoded)
• Using Freelance Graphic Design Contracts (David Airey)
• Pragmatic Web Project Planning Series (The Same Barnes)
• Graphic Designer Contracts Agreements Forms and Web Designers Contracts (Outlaw Design Blog)
• Project Estimator (Astuteo)

There are plenty more of them out there, please feel free to add your resources below.

That is an extreme example but think about it for a second, the client now has a very real picture of what they would like the end result to “look” like before we have even taken the time to discuss what it is that they would like the end result to accomplish.

Eye candy is a wonderful thing but once the initial thrill wears off the end product still needs to function, make sense and produce results.

My question is how do you lead your client to initially look past these aesthetic ideas and focus in on the important pieces that are going to make up the completed puzzle. To Put it simply, how do you get the client to stop seeing that “buy me” button with the red gradient they would so like you to include and start seeing that “buy me” button as the gateway to selling their product or service?

This infatuation with a certain aesthetic begins somewhere. Example: A client happens to follow a few designers on Twitter. Via his twitter stream he learns of the plethora of web design showcases which capture “the best of the best” in web design today. A half hour or so later he has taken the time to look at four or five examples of what is good web design and has thus formed a very solid opinion of what their site must look like in order to be successful and well designed.

The problem for me is not that they have taken the time to do some research or the fact that they have forwarded some examples of what they like. In fact I welcome that, it gives me a better understanding of where they are coming from and what they more than likely expect their completed product to resemble.

No that’s not the problem it is only the beginning. The real issue lies in the fact that they now have this picture in their mind of what a good web design must look like in order for it to be successful. To wow their colleagues and why not even show up along side some of those galleries. So they go about making requests for gradients here or this button here etc. This is where we run into an issue. Although they make these requests they have not necessarily taken the time to think about why it makes sense for their own application.

And why not, in most cases we are going to see the fresh coat of paint on the outside before we so the beautiful layout of the home on the inside. When they happen on a site that they like they see the aesthetics of the design, they merely use the design in a functional sense. Let me explain. A client of your happens upon a site that they fall in love with, the aesthetics of it are no doubt very pleasing to the eye. The dive in and start navigating around the site but they are not paying attention to where or why they clicked that first link they did. (These are the things that you pay attention to when examining a site, right?) To them it just made sense it was a step taken with little thought. What they don’t realize is that the creator of this website designed it that way, they prompted you to click that link through good design.

So how do we combat this obsession that your client now has with the way their site should look as opposed to the way their site should function which is after all what is going to sell their product or land those clients. Personally I think the solution is fairly easy, challenge their request and ask why.

The next time a client comes to you and says I really like these red gradient buttons on this site I definitely want some of those on my site simply start the conversation by asking them why. Why do you feel that this is going to work best for you website, what is the purpose of your request.

Please note that I am not advocating that as a designer it is your given right to disagree with every suggestion that a client makes. In fact quite the opposite, I believe very strongly in full and open communication with the client throughout the life of the project. I also believe that suggestions from your client be examined because after all your client should know their consumer base quite a bit better than yourself. They will in some instances have a better feel for what will and will not work but simply do not know how to translate that to the web/print etc.

At the same time, do not be afraid to ask your client why and then follow with your own professional guidance if a request is made. Especially if that request seems to have no real value behind it. After all this is what the client came to your and is paying you for. Now if you are in the situation where your client does not respect or even want to consider your professional opinion, then you have an entirely different set of issues you may need to address.

I will be honest I was somewhat hesitant to follow my own advice especially in the first few months of working solo. I was worried that in doing so that I may upset or worse yet lose a client if I where to question their request. However I eventually realized that this is a very important part of my job and have found that if handled professionally, 9 times out of 10 not only will your client react well to this but they will be extremely appreciative.

You have to remember and in most cases convince yourself that if the client could do this themselves then they would not have contacted you in the first place.

The Key is to handle this in a professional manner, raise the question, address the issue and offer your professional advice or solution. You have to remember that unfortunately some clients are coming into this relationship under that assumption that as a “designer” you may be both arrogant and quirky. You also have to remember that as a business owner, CEO or whomever your contact may be, that they may not be entirely receptive to taking direction from someone they may see as just another hired hand.

In the end your willingness to question and advise throughout the entire process will get you one step closer to producing a professional, beautiful end product that you are proud of. A product that will please your client and produce the desired results.

What are your thoughts? How do you work with your clients to encourage focusing on the important?

So what does this have to do with setting client boundaries from the start? It’s all part of managing your projects, managing your clients and ultimately managing your business.

This article is meant to cover a few general boundaries for your business, the things I think should be covered up front in the initial contact stages. I am not going to delve into scope and detailed setting detailed project boundaries. These are just the basics to ensure that you are able to conduct business with your clients in a professional manner and hopefully avoid some awkward moments and frustrations that may occur in the absence of these boundaries.

Let’s have a look.

On thing I do up front and immediately upon first contact with a client is establish contact and correspondence time. I do so very politely and professionally. If a client would like to speak over the phone initially I respond to them by say something like I would be happy to speak with you by phone, my phone hours are 9 am – 4:30pm CST M – F, please let me know what works best for you. If they have given you a good idea of what will work best for them simply set a time and avoid back and forth email. Something like I will call you tomorrow morning at 9 am CST, if this conflicts with your schedule please let me know.

As a side-note, I will on occasion make exceptions to this rule. For instance you may have an inquiry from a client who currently holds a full time position while establishing the business which requires your expertise. Having once been in this position, I know how hard it can be to do this so I will on occasion make an exception to this rule but when doing so I set a hard time for communication.

What can happen if you don’t set this type of boundary up front? You will receive phone calls at 8pm as your are drifting off and you will receive phone calls on Saturday morning. Keep in mind this is not your clients fault, although it may seem rude to you, if they are used to dealing with their own clients during these hours then they will expect the same of you unless you establish times up front.

The second thing I want to look at ties into the first and that is how much phone time is required during the life of the project and how to set boundaries here as well. I always make myself available to clients via telephone if this is what they prefer but I will make no effort here to hide the fact that I would prefer in most cases to communicate via email. To me email is far more efficient if used properly.

To stay on track I will jump past my personal preferences or why I think email is more efficient and get right to the point. How much time you are going to be spending on the the phone is in my opinion extremely hard to account for because it is going to vary greatly from client to client. I have some clients whom I have not once had contact with over any other medium than email and they have been with me for months. On the other hand I have had clients who want to talk once or twice a week.

My first suggestion is figure out how you are going to budget for this and do so. You may be able to judge a project up front but if not then play it safe. Phone correspondence and consultation is part of project management, it is part of the service you are providing. Note: If you charge on an hourly basis then this is probably not an issue for you but I would be sure that your clients understand that phone time will be included in billable hours if you intend it to be.

The second part of this is managing client phone calls. I believe this takes practice and I am not so sure I am one to give advice here but… Managing a phone call can be hard, the last thing you want to do is come off as rude or make a client to feel like they are wasting your time. Ideally you would hope that a client understands why we need to keep our phone calls to the point but this is not always the case. The bottom line is every minute spent on the phone is a minute you are not working towards completing their project so discussion the project and hashing out issues that pertain to the project is a productive use of time. On the other hand steering of course, discussing what you did over the weekend or simply re-hashing issues that have already been solved in previous conversations via email, although sometimes enjoyable can eat into time better spent on the issues at hand. Again it’s a fine line between what is managing your phone time professionally and cutting a client off but I think it is something that comes with experience.

Please if you have any suggestions or experience in this area feel free to add it to the comments below.

The last and final thing I want to cover here is email. Now this is less of a boundary and more of a professional courtesy. My email is always open, a client can email me any time they would like, but I let them know up front what to expect as far as response time goes. This is very similar to setting up your phone hours in the beginning and will hopefully help you and your client to avoid frustration and confusion.

Yes I am always pretty on top my email during normal working hours, for the most part my clients are going to get a fairly quick response but there are times when I am buried knee deep in code or have to run out for a quick meeting. (I also take a lunch hour) Set reasonable expectations on return emails. I usually like to let my clients know that during normal working hours you can expect a reply within two hours. I also check my email once in the evening and in the case of a pressing issue I will respond at that time otherwise expect my reply first thing in the morning. Lastly I check my email at least once a day on weekends.

That’s it a few very basic guidelines that you can establish up front to ensure that you get your client relationship off on the right foot and avoid any frustrations that may arise from unclear communication. I look forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas.

The RedMark Mission Statement
RedMark’s mission is to help designers and clients find a common language through visual collaboration.

What it is.

We all need to collaborate with our clients, teams etc at one point or another throughout the life of the project. Feedback is important to the process in order to ensure that the final product is the best it can be.
Redmark allows you to do just that with ease. Simply upload a design and subscribe your client or team member. They will receive an email alerting them to the fact that there is a new document up for review. At that point they can easily markup and annotate directly on screen. Once they have added their comments they simply click Send Feedback and you will be notified via email that feedback has been left. All revision will be tracked throughout the life of the project.

If you have a look at the screen shot below you will see how easy it is for the client to leave a note. No more of those instances where you have a client saying “You know that blue box at the bottom next to the black text, yeah, can you move that up by the other black text”. With Remark they can simply attach the comment to the specific area in question and keep the process moving, no need for you and the client to hop on the phone in order to sort out what black text they are referring to.

Another feature I really like is the fact that there is no log in process for the client. They receive a link directly to the uploaded project and can begin marking it up immediately making the process extremely smooth for them.

My Review

I took a bit of time reviewing this one before I decided it’s a winner because in the past I got burned by a similar service that froze up and did not allow my client to review anything. So after testing it out quite a bit myself. I can say that Redmark is extremely easy, responds well and runs nicely.

Upon review I did have a few questions/suggestions so I sent them off to one of the creators. He responded within and hour and noted that the particular featured I had mentioned was already in the works. Can’t beat customer service like that.

So in the end I definitely recommend it and I will definitely use it.

That’s all I am going to share, for the full scope get yourself an invite code and try it out for yourself.

About Those Codes

I can get you an invite code no problem, shoot me a DM on Twitter @jeremyjaymes and I will get back to you with an invite. If you would rather not follow me on Twitter because you feel I am rather annoying or you are rebelling against Twitter, that’s fine too. Just drop me an email at jeremy[at]papertreedesign[dot]com and I will be happy to send one out to you.

Please see the link to this article below for ideas on forming your own questionnaire, they pretty much have it covered.

So On the Topic of Client Questionnaires

My opinion is that starting off with a good “questionnaire” is key to getting the project off on the right foot. The discovery questions don’t necessarily need to be in the form of a document for the client to fill out as it can certainly be done over the phone with a notepad and pen. The important thing is knowing the right questions to ask.

With that, I do feel that a few simple questions sent out to the client on initial contact can definitely help you to not only learn about the client but decide if the project is right for you.

So I usually try to break it down into two steps. On initial contact I will send out a few basic questions concerning the project like budget, timeline, the general concept, etc. I do this through email as I don’t feel that attaching long documents at this point is necessary or beneficial in keeping the client interested in working with you. This short initial set of questions lets me screen the client without overwhelming them off the bat. I am able to discern a few things from this initial questionnaire, like whether or not I will be able to accomplish what they are hoping to do or how realistic their budget or timeline are for the project and so on.

From there I can usually shape a second set of questions that go more in depth and help me develop the quote. I actually have a template of questions that I can easily edit when certain things do not apply.

When first starting out, trying to land your first second or third client, you might be a bit hesitant to include this in your process. You may feel like sending a flurry of questions at a client will decrease your chances of landing the job. But I can assure that if done right, this will save you a lot of time and money in the long run.

A Few Tips

When doing this I find it helpful to explain why these questions are crucial to the process and how important it is that we try to get a firm grasp on the project beforehand. In the long run this will cut down the number of revisions, changes and additions necessary, which will in turn keep the pricing as close to the original estimate as possible. The bottom line is the more I know about a project and your business up front the smoother the project and the better the end result.

Obviously your client is going to interested in both saving money and getting superior quality, so this should calm any hesitation they may have about working with you to answer the questions. If explained correctly most clients will understand and be happy to fill out you questionnaire because as with anything they do in business proper planning is the difference between success and failure.

One last point – Throughout this process you have to remember that the client more than likely does not have a ton of experience when it comes to the project at hand so you should try to work with them to answer the questions.

Once you have the questionnaire completed it is really a matter of case by case. Sometimes the client comes back so detailed in their answers that I can immediately move on to determining scope, timeline and pricing. Other times I need to follow up with a phone call to talk certain aspects through with them.

Next on to the real paperwork.

Link to Freelance Switch

Now you may be one of those lucky people who has it all figured out, scheduling, costs, time management etc. You never run into any hiccups and for the most part things are smooth sailing. Well then this article is probably not going to help you any but perhaps you can share your experience with us so that we may one day be in that position as well. On the other hand if you are like me, getting it figured out but not quite there yet, you probably find yourself putting in overtime quite a bit. Getting completely consumed by a project. Or just realizing that you are almost perfectly happy where you are at but you could be doing just a little better. Then read on…

From what I see a lot of freelancers, self employed, contractors, small businesses, etc look forward to the time we will have to work personal projects. Whether it be an application, income producing site, ebook etc. We look forward to doing projects like this because it will afford us an opportunity to create a nearly passive income. If this is not a goal of yours, you should consider it. Starting such side or personal projects with the goal of creating a additional income can be a great way to pad your bottom line and thus either make you richer in the wallet or richer in time. Having a few extra dollars can certainly alleviate some of the stresses that you might be experiencing doing client work and open you up to new possibilities such as being more selective in the projects you choose to take on. The opportunity to take a bit more of your time and allocate it to yourself. The list goes on.

It’s not all about personal projects and passive income either, simply developing your business can very easily take a back seat to the projects at hand. I can’t tell you how many times I have had to remind myself that this project will one day come to an end and therefore I need to take some time out to market myself now so that I have a new project waiting on the other end. I won’t even begin to talk about what my accounting practices tend to look like when I get involved in an all consuming project, it’s a wonder I stay afloat!

But… those of us refer to ourselves as freelancers or self employed, we know that the opportunity for extra time to do such things can soon become a distant dream. Projects get going, new opportunities arise, schedules get thrown out of whack whatever the reason might be that personal project you once where so excited about can easily be thrown by the wayside. The severe amount of overtime that a lot of us put in to “have the life of a freelancer”, and most importantly the fact that a lot of times freelancing becomes a paycheck to paycheck business just as if you where gainfully employed with someone else. I would venture to say, and perhaps I am alone on this, but I feel that I work quite a bit harder and longer than I have at previous 9 to 5′s. Don’t get me wrong I enjoy the majority of the work, no doubt, but I wouldn’t be telling the truth if I didn’t admit to seeing 5 o’clock roll around and remembering when that meant it was quittin time.

Here is a good example of my recent experiences. The start of this year was a whirlwind for me. Project after project on the schedule. I said to myself, “Ok right here (pointing at calendar) things should slow down and I that is when I will set aside some time to work on a few personal projects. For me personal projects are several things. One they are an escape from burnout, they help me to cool out and enjoy some of what I do every day. They are also a chance for me to test ideas whether they be design ideas or business ideas. Lastly they provide me with a chance to one day generate additional forms of income that may one day allow me to take a bit more time for myself. To me personal projects are important.

Well that time has now come and gone and although I hold on to the hope that “just a few more weeks”, I am not sure that it is realistic.

Why? For one, I don’t care how organized you are, projects are going to fall off schedule just a bit here and there. That little bit starts a trend and before you know it your weeks have shifted. Two, you may not feel like you need the money now because you just finished up a huge project, but you will need the money in a month or two. So when a regular client (one you want to keep) comes to you in need do you say sorry I am taking two weeks off thus giving them the opportunity to find someone else or do you give in and say “Ok I have some time we can look at starting this next week”. More than likely option 2.

It’s one thing to stick to your guns on scheduling but the last thing you want is to set that “good” client free because two months from now when you do need the work you’ll be kicking yourself.

So the question is how do you do it, allow yourself the free time, stay on the path to becoming more free in both time and finance, some of the very reasons you probably struck out on your own in the first place. How do you create the balance that affords you that luxury of “getting ahead”? When is your time to start developing your business and those personal projects? Do you look to build the business to the point in which you become the employer and thus no longer a freelancer?

I would love to hear some thoughts on this, beyond “Sometimes you just have to work a little harder or a little later into the night”. I’ve got that one covered. I am looking more at how any of you have found a balance that works when approaching the development of your own personal projects and the day to day that provides the paycheck. I have been working on this myself so there will be a follow up article, but I am interested to see how others create a balance.