Some of my readers may know that I am a web & graphic designer and I have been for over four years now. Just up until this year I have been meaning to write out a contract agreement and I finally have done so. Basically this will guarantee me protection against any scamming clients that I may come across. But hopefully this is not the case but it is a good thing to have.

What is a contract agreement?

If your a freelancer like myself a contract is a really good thing to have by your site. It prevents scammers from trying anything unusual and work threatening. It also guarantees you protection with any down payments or payment transactions in general, for instance if you said on the contract something like ‘You must agree that sending the final down payment within 24 hours of the completed design’ this would be something that the client would have to do. If the client breaks any rules on a serious matter you can go further and complain and even claim a chargeback.

It is recommended that every freelancer has one because you don’t have a clue who is behind the screen that you are dealing with. Having people steal your work and scamming you really isn’t a nice thing to deal with especially if you have no documentation of ‘that’ person working with you.

You’ve probably heard the saying - ‘Always have something in writing’. Well this saying can relate to this article. The importance of having some sort of documentation is crucial especially if you are handling business with really high-end companies and dealing with money which passes the $x,xxx mark.

Advantages of having a signed Contract

The first main advantage is one I have mentioned above and that is protection. It protects you against any scammers or what have you. They can still steal your work, but if you have some sort of document with an agreement it helps you so much further. Another advantage of having a contract is that you can write your own rules and regulations when that person is dealing with you. For example, you could say in the contract, ‘You must agree that if you want a refund and a revision has already been completed of your design, 60% will be refunded and 40% will be kept’. This is an advantage because you have stated that your client will get a refund but you are also letting the client know that in working with you, you will also keep part of the money as a result of completing a revision. The last advantage I can think of is that clients will realize that you work in a professional manner and like to see you do so. This will also most definitely guarantee you that they will come back to work with you.

So if you haven’t already done so, then I personally would recommend you write out a client contract agreement and keep safe from now on. If you would like any help on what kind of things to write in your brief I would be happy to help. If you have a contract agreement written already and would like to share with me and my readers your experiences with it, be sure to do so by simply commenting!

Kindest regards - James

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 12th, 2008 at 7:40 pm and is filed under Articles, General Updates, Personal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.