Running a Freelance Web Development Business - part 2
a continuation from the first long winded post.
RECAP: You have your first client, a quote for the project, general requirements which seem to keep growing, basic mockups of the site you will build, hosting in place, and the latest copies of Photoshop and Dreamweaver.
Over the next few days the client sends you some other text for the about us page, a couple brochures in pdf format about his product, and a couple images he “borrowed” from the internet. You have researched some sites for products similar to his and find they use a lot of “happy people, smiling faces” imagery rather than product images. So you visit your favorite $1 stock image site and recommend 10 different people shots for the client and ask him to pick a couple. He of course picks 5 and wants you to buy the large $5 versions. Your appropriate response is “Sure, I’ll just add the costs to the bill”. Ok says the client.
[For those of you following along with the math; Spent $425, plan to bill $250.]
You fill in the pages with the content and images, installed the basic OSCommerce cart and added a couple of product images to it, complet the contact form functioning the way the client requested and even created an output page so the client can output the database contents. You even created a document of how the store admin panel works so the site owner can update products and descriptions. You get some feedback from the client that all is looking good but he would like the store design to be more congruent with the site rather than the standard grey/white layout. So you spend another 10 hours fiddling with the code and CSS to bend the store front to your will. Clients annoying friend is sending you templates for OSC that would add another $59 to the total. You discuss with the client and determine these are not necessary.
Just when you think you are done the client reads an article about “blogging for business” and sets up a blog at wordpress.com. He would like you to incorporate the blog content into the site. You know from your previous blog experience that you can set up wordpress on his hosting site and make it look more congruent. So you notify the client and he agrees. You spend the next 3 evenings adding that in.
You feel you are just about done and go through the mental checklist.
Hosting - check
Design - check
Online store - check
documentation - check (until you try to use the store)
blog installed and designed - check
home page - done
about us page - done
contact page - done
product page - done except for link to store
services page - empty - still waiting on customer to send content.
WOW YOU ARE 99% DONE!!! CONGRATULATIONS.
So you call the client with the good news and ask him to do a run through of the site. You also request a meeting so you can teach him how the admin panel for the shopping cart works. Upon the run through the client requests some changes to almost every pages content , a change in color of the title fonts, and wants to add a box on the home page with the titles of the latests blog posts. Easy enough you spend another 6 hours making all the changes.
At the meeting the customer praises all your hardwork and makes “The Promise”.
The Promise: “The experience we have given you will help you find more business in the future. I have 3 or 4 friends who need websites and I will be glad to tell them about you.”
The problem with the promise is that the client will also tell his friends how cheap you are and how accomodating you are so you have no control over what to charge. You will also find your clients friends are even less knowledgable about the web than the client was and will have no idea why they need a website. Your client will become their advisor based on his experience. (See where I am going with this).
You begin your walk through of the store application which is all very cool to the client. He doesn’t quite get how the credit card thing works since it does not automagically go into his bank account. He will have to use his phone to get approval on credit cards. He also spots the PayPal option and asks if you can install that. So you spend the next 30 minutes infront of the client setting up his paypal merchant account and installing the option. You test it with a dummy $1 product you set up. The client also spots the info boxes, shipping options, and poor image quality of small images and asks you to fix those.
So you spend another 5-6 hours fixing his issues. You use your digital camera and take some product shots to use in the store and help the client fillin all the products. You run through several test orders and make sure all works.
60 days after you started the site is finally complete the client is satisfied and you submit your $250 bill fully documenting the site design for $200, product shots for $25, and the stock photo costs of $25. The client gets the bill and sends you a check, but comments that he thought the agreement to pay the extra $25 was covered for product shots and purchased images.
A month goes by and the client calls and asks for some minor updates. He wants Meta tags on all the pages and want to make the site more search engine optimized. He also wants to add google ads to the blog. You offer to do this for an additional $100. The client talks you down to $50 because he has seen how fast you added paypal to the store and doesn’t think these changes will take that long. So you spend another 5 hours learning about SEO and how to add adsense to the blog. You make the changes, get client feedback, and bill your $50.
[Total spent $425, Total income $350 but you rationalize you have only paid a net of $75 for the latest software.]
Overall this experience has not been terrible and you are confident you can do it again vowing next time you will have a more reasonable pricing policy, a contract, and will educate the client better from the beginning. This article is not meant to dissuede you from doing so, but is here to help you prepare for running a freelance web design business. Every client will offer you new challenges but you will also likely increase your experience and performance level such that you can manage 3-4 clients at a time. Your early least profittable clients will require more work from you in the future and bring you new clients. Treat every potential and previous client with respect and expect they will respect you. Good luck to your new business venture.
Future articles will deal with some specifics of overcoming customer challenges and products that will make running your business easier. Thanks for reading.