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So You Want to Be a Freelancer (part
5)
Article by Elena Fawkner
Protecting Yourself
A question often asked by freelancers is "do I need a
contract?". Well, to start with, once you've negotiated a deal with a new client you
have a contract. The question is whether it's oral or in writing. An oral contact is just
as enforceable as a written one but the problem becomes one of proof. How do you prove the
terms of your contract if all you have is one person's word against another's? For this
reason, a written contract is always a good idea. It needn't be anything too elaborate. In
fact, even an exchange of letters will do. Just be sure to include the basic terms:
=> Describe the job
What must you do to perform the contract? Be as specific as
possible here and try not to be open-ended. "Create a website for client" is too
vague. What would you do if the client came back after you'd finished and said, "but
there's no shopping cart, there's no feedback form?" and you hadn't quoted your time
for these things in striking the price? Better to say, "Create website at client's
direction consisting of (a) home page; (b) products and services page; (c) order page; (d)
shopping cart and (e) feedback form". By requiring the client to be very specific
about what it is they want from their website, how they want it to look etc. you can go a
long way to avoiding misunderstandings caused by vagueness.
=> Set the price
State in unequivocal terms the price you are to receive for
the job. This can be either a project cost such as $5,000 or an hourly rate such as
"$150 hour or part thereof; minimum of ten (10) hours" or whatever.
=> State time for performance
Performance means not only when you will complete your part
of the bargain (i.e. delivering the completed website to the client) but when the client
must complete his or hers (i.e. by paying you).
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