Re:Ask HN: What mistakes did you make when starting as a con...
by ghaff on Saturday December 07, 2019 @03:10PM
(#21732287)
>When I first started our small consulting firm we didn't know how to scope explicitly enough and didn't charge enough even if the projects did stay within the scope of work.
I used to have one client who was otherwise both a good customer and a nice person but he was terrible for constantly trying to incrementally increase scope. It was always an effort during the SOW process to really nail down exactly what the deliverables were.
Don't be embarrassed of your rates. If they're flirting with but not plainly past what potential clients are willing to pay, you're in/around the right territory. Additionally, explicitly the definition of successful deliverables in your SOWs - make sure that you get enthusiastic client sign-off on these criteria. This can only serve to make everyone better off when work is marked as complete.
Last, "Due on Receipt" with some understanding and grace is a lot better than having to send "Hey just wanted to check in about invoice #1113" emails 10 days after your 30-day receivables haven't come in.