[thelist] Fulltime to freelance

[Fred Jones]

> Or, if you have a simple arrangement for ad-hoc hourly billing with a client
> that is working, then fine. It's all good, I didn't mean to come off as a
> critic of your methods Fred. I was just trying to say, in general, don't be
> afraid to invest significant non-billable time up front because in my
> experience it sucks but it pays off eventually and reduces disputes to almost
> nil.

I didn't think you were criticizing me. I actually find it very
interesting that people are able to work on fixed fees--I am scared of
that. I believe someone wrote here a few months ago that his clients
understand that fixed fee means he doubles (at least) what he really
thinks it will require and then asks them to pay that. The client
realizes that he's paying a lot more, but he's satisfied that in
return for that, he has a fixed price.

> For the OP maybe this is informative as probably the #1 problem in this type
> of business (whether solo or large shop) is estimating how much work you have
> to do and getting paid for all of it. The actual development is the easy part
> (because you are already a superstar at that, right?)

LOL.

For me the hardest part is getting new clients, but perhaps this is
more or less the same thing as what you say.

F