Hey all,
New to the forum, fairly new to freelance in general. I've found myself stressing out over clients and their inability to keep up with the (fast) pace of my work.
Two clients in particular who after agreeing to take on the project, and taking a retainer fee from them, took far too long to deliver their content to complete the project. I would create the designs rather quickly, have a fully functional website delivered within days. Then the week or so of design tweaks requested by the client. After that, I had pretty much sealed up my end of what was required of me, and at this point, I am waiting on content from the clients. Having phone calls/emails ignored, and working at their slow pace, these two projects that could have been wrapped up in three weeks at the most took over two months from start to paycheck. These delays were not caused by me, but by clients who dragged their feet.
I am now considering having my future clients sign more extensive contracts up front, with certain timeframes/requirements met on both parties behalf, and possible penalties for not meeting requirements. If I can promise and deliver all the requirements they've requested in website in XXdays, I feel I should be paid. If they want to wait 6 months to give me content, I feel that shouldn't be my problem to pay my rent.
I'm sure others have dealt with similar clients/situations, and am curious how you've handled it. Is more contracts/paperwork worth while?
Cheers,
Tyler