NYCPHP Meetup

[Mitch Pirtle]

On 12/22/05, Tim Gales <tgales at tgaconnect.com> wrote:
>
> Any advice?

Yeah. You got three different ways to solve your problem, and both
include additional effort which I write off as "deadbeat protection":

1) Require final payment *before* delivery of the final deliverable. I
put our code projects on a development server that the client can
access and test from the front-side, so they know that the code
actually works and does what it is supposed to. No payment? No code.
This one is the simplest one.
2) Require a purchase order before starting the project. That should
provide just enough commitment from the client that they are now
legally liable if they fail to pay after the terms of that purchase
order are met.
3) Take 40% up front, 40% as sign off (that means they sign a document
accepting that you are complete and the software does what it is
supposed to), and then the final 20% when it is running on their
servers. This minimizes your exposure, but you can still get stiffed.

Ultimately, you have a soft good, and the second it is out of your
hands it should be considered gone forever. IMHO being pleasant and
polite are absolutely not a requirement when someone is ripping you
off. But regardless of your manners, you need to take steps to ensure
you have a way to protect yourself from those that take your
generosity and helpful nature for granted, and then take your product
without paying in full.

--
Mitch Pirtle
Joomla! Core Developer
Open Source Matters