3 Considerations You Should Make Before You Start A Freelance Project
Most of us have been there. Designing or working on a project we have severely undercharged for, that’s become now 2 weeks overdue past the deadline, for a client who is already demanding much more than the initial agreement.
Unfortunately, this is 100% on you.
The sad part is it's completely true because you can avoid these projects from the get-go by asking just the right question at the start.
I'll break down a simple 3 step process
- Setting project expectations with your client
- Discuss in open these expectations
- Make sure to contractually agree on these (as to cover your ass)
Project scope creep can happen, even with strong guidelines, project outlines, and contracts.
By taking into account a few of these simple steps, you can greatly improve your chances of not getting hurt by them in the future.
1. What is being delivered in this project?
When taking on any project you need to know what it's going to entail, is your client looking for a logo? maybe a complete website and marketing strategy, you need to be comfortable knowing what your clients need.
Began by listing out every deliverable in a straight forward manner and what is associated with each, much like a micro to-do list.
Project deliverables associated with scope:
Tailored Website
- 1 Mobile-friendly landing/homepage with 4 sections of content
- 1 Data collection and sign-up form / MailChimp integration
- 1 Website editor
Integration and MailChimp Account
- 1 MailChimp account
- 1 campaign
- 1 list
- Integrate with the website to add new submissions to the list
2. Timeline & Constraints
It's very easy for a design or development scope to creep beyond original deadlines. The rule of thumb used here is to simply double up on how much hourly work it would typically take you to complete task or objectives on your end while setting firm deadlines for completion with your client throughout the project.
An example, while building a website, I will give the client a window to provide feedback. I will also set a deadline for myself to create a rough draft of the site, at this time the client has 48hours to give their feedback.
If you look in my contracts ( which presumably are more strict than most ), I take care in properly outlining penalties for missed appointments, deposits and deadlines, doubling up on my daily flat rate for every day that a client misses or delays the process.
This can go both ways though - I will also go as far as to subtract the same amount when I miss or blow past a deadline.
In order to make this feasible, you need to work on maintaining a strict calendar and have established milestones and dates for each project stage.
3. Knowing The Budget
How you conduct yourself and the questions you ask during this phase will be the most important part. Most freelancers undervalue their work to a certain degree, but being able to understand the monetary scope of any project is the most important detail
Two things you should know at this point:
1. Details and scope of the project (What you'll be working on)
2. Your deadline for project completion
This is all you will require to fabricate your client proposal.
At this time you can ask your client about their budget, Which can be a bit of a waste of time, your client will typically suggest a low ball number. This puts you in the difficult position of selling your skills at a higher price.
You should know exactly what kind of figure you want to charge for a project of any size. Don't budge from that either. Instead, this number should be more than a value you pull from the top of your head - It is the value tied to a product you are offering.