| Don't bill hourly. Incorporate. Never reduce your rate; cut project scope instead. Every project worth doing is worth writing a statement of work. A good SOW includes acceptance criteria. Don't expect to work on your own paper; clients will require you to sign their contracts. Get a lawyer, have them review every contract you sign. (This is why there are MSAs and SOWs.) The lawyer advises, they don't decide. If a lawyer is too expensive, your rates are too low. Also, your rates are too low. Don't position yourself based on tech stacks. "Node.js consultant" is a crappy differentiator. Don't set your rates based on your previous full-time salary. Your rate is barely even related to your salary. Get health insurance. Do not fuck around on taxes. You owe them quarterly. Serious consultancies don't demand up-front payment. Do what you need to until you get serious, though. Finally: you need a lawyer to evaluate that clause. It could be a boilerplate IP assignment, or it could be a blanket concession that your client can file a difficult-to-dismiss lawsuit against you any time for all time. If this project isn't worth the $200 that will cost you, it's not worth doing at all. |
How important are references or building a portfolio? And what do you tell clients to convince them to pick you and your rates?