If there’s one thing I’ve ever regretted while freelancing, it’s having been suckered into fixed bids – or to put it plainly: projects where the client has a vague idea of what they want built, and wants you to read their mind and tell them exactly how long and how much it will cost. Of…
Estimating is hard, risky, and usually imprecise. But it’s something developers and designers need to produce before winning a contract. I’ve probably sent out about 200 estimates in my career, and have closed at least half of them. Regardless of whether you bill hourly or flat bid your projects, every client is going to have…
Most of us quit our jobs and become freelancers because of the allure of being free. Historically, a freelancer was sort of a medieval mercenary. In a time of serfdom and allegiance for life, they were free of any master. Modern mercenaries who slay code or battle the dragons of design often switch one master…
Making my expectations known? Most freelancers tend to think that as hired guns, it’s not our job to set expectations. Instead, we work within their expectations. We’ll be code complete by a certain date. We’re going to be developing X, Y and Z features. We’ll throw in a month of maintenance, free of charge. But…