Comments on: When to Fire a Client

By: ilovecode » Blog Archive » Interviewing Me….The Entrepreneur

ilovecode » Blog Archive » Interviewing Me….The Entrepreneur — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 08:29:59 +0000

[...] violating copyright laws and involving us, unknowingly, in it. I wrote a more in depth post about when to fire a client which you can read more of the grisly details [...]

By: Susan

Susan — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 11:48:33 +0000

Broadening it to any service-based industry, when I’m not wearing my web developer hat, I’m a psychologist. As a psychologist, I have an ethical responsibility not to work with clients I don’t feel I can help. So there are certain situations where my profession says I’m actually SUPPOSED to fire a client. They’re very few and far between and hopefully, you figure it out in the first session or two before the client gets attached, but still – that possibility is not only out there, it’s the choice we’re expected to make under certain circumstances. It doesn’t happen often, but it happens. I had to do it once and it was an extremely difficult decision.

By: ses5909

ses5909 — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 11:23:50 +0000

@daniel – thanks for taking the time to read it and I’m glad you liked it. I think this situation can apply to almost any service-based industry!

By: daniel butterfield

daniel butterfield — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 00:21:18 +0000

I normally don’t read such long posts if it isn’t related to my business directly, but I really enjoyed your post. In my business, Real Estate and Finance, it seems that I find people that I don’t want to work with all the time. In addition, I used to find people that I worked with but decided it was a bad idea, then I guess i have fired the client.

By: ses5909

ses5909 — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 13:52:40 +0000

@LGR -It really is about protecting yourself but you also protect the client in the same way.

@Susan – yeah, i thought there might be a possible legal ramifications too and the first question they would ask is who designed and developed it for you.

@Robin – I have a “Termination Clause” which covers the cancellation thing. It states that either party can give 7 days written notice to terminate the contract. As the contractor, I would deliver a “termination invoice” which will specify all unpaid hours at the agreed hourly rate which won’t exceed the cost of the estimate. Upon receipt of the payment, I hand everything over to them.

@Pat – Very good points.

By: Patrick Burt

Patrick Burt — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 12:28:34 +0000

When a client starts to completely veer off the guidelines put through in the contract: eg. tons of new features that they don’t want to spend money on and that were never in the contract, that’s when I know I’m not being valued. “You’re fired!”

By: Robin

Robin — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 07:29:02 +0000

This might be a good article for search-this: what should be included in the contract? I’ve made up mine, but I’m not sure if everything is in it. Cancellations like this, for example, are not included. How do you handle such situation? Do you say that you’ve done 90% of the work, and ask to get payed 90% of the project price?

I know clients tend to look at competitive company website, pick the best, and ask to build “something like that”. I mostly answer with: “oh, but I can do a lot better than that”. Opens their eyes.

By: Susan

Susan — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 02:30:39 +0000

I haven’t had this situation but am glad to know about it so I can watch out for it. I think you did exactly the right thing – not only for ethical reasons, but it also seems possible that your ex-client could end up with a law suit on his hands. I’m curious – how did he react when you confronted him and resigned? Did he have any sense that what he had done wasn’t cool?

By: LGR

LGR — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 20:35:23 +0000

I have done exactly the same thing. That is all you can do. Have a good contract, get paid and walk away. I had a client once that kept changing the scope of the project. When I went back to him with the estimated costs for the added work he said I should do it all for the same price. I walked away right after that and he got nothing. Last I checked his site is still not done.

By: ses5909

ses5909 — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 19:57:22 +0000

Jack, thanks for the comment. One thing I learned very early in the game was to always have a contract!

By: Jack @ The Tech Teapot

Jack @ The Tech Teapot — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 15:06:35 +0000

I think you were right. If it doesn’t feel right, then it probably isn’t.

You were sensible having a contract. You would have had a lot more difficulty without one…probably having to walk with no compensation.