For me, this is now a record. I have a total of seven new client projects that have now been stalled for over a month. Most just have the standard 50% up front, two though are 100% paid for, just waiting on the hosting contract to be sorted and they go live. One of these is now nearly a year stalled.
In all cases, the clients are still in business. Some are communicating with me, some not.
Only one actually owes me money, and that’s £15 on a paid for £500 job, they say they’ll pay when they have it.
Is this a sign of the times, normality, or just me?
Similar situation here…5 stalled projects.
Seems to me that I have to start asking for down payments up front just so they see the value in what they’re getting.
I don’t know what it really is but it’s driving me crazy…
My stalled projects are caused by clients not providing me with the information - images and copy that they want in the site. It doesn’t matter how often I say… “I’ll build it you provide the content”
On a couple of local projects I can find the information out for myself, but on others I have no clue what to put in for content.
That’s fairly normal, but I do think there is something more going on at the moment with all these stalled projects. I’m hearing this from lots of sources.
If it’s any help I work like this: I take on about two bespoke builds a month (my templates take less than a day to knock out so I take as many of those as I can). Typically I book bespoke work 2 months in advance. To book a slot the client must pay 50% of the estimate (not a quote, an estimate) up front. Then once the work is started and about 50% complete they pay the balance. I make no exceptions. Typically, this 50% completed point means the site structure, design and navi system is done, it’s just the content to add.
Sure, I don’t get some gigs, as some won’t pay up front, but I see these clients as people who don’t value and respect what I do and who will most likely be bad payers anyway, so no lose.
Of my stalled projects, of the ones that have only got half way (ie. only half the estimate has been paid) I’m pretty sure it’s for financial reasons that it’s stalled. Some of these clients paid their first instalment in Oct/Nov last year, and now have run out of money.
What’s odd is the two that are fully paid up but not supplying me the content.
But yes, NEVER start work without some money up front. Ever.
Definitely waiting for client deliverables as @alixnotes says can greatly delay projects. I am quite stringent about this, when writing contracts. I make a point of saying the supply of any content or other items can have an impact on estimated completion times.
That way when a client inevitably contacts you at 11pm on a Sunday night to say “why arn’t we live yet”, you can show them the contract and quickly bat the ball back into their court.
Certainly I am hearing from others of a worrying increase in non paying clients. For 2019 I have adopted the 33% split system for getting cash in. That way, I’m always ahead, if a client decides to cancel.
Interesting thread. It’s reminded me I have a project that’s been stalled for so long that I’d forgotten about it.
It’s coming up to two years now.
I have another where they paid the deposit, loved the design and the roughs, then said they wanted to re-think a few things, snuck off, took the site with them and started re-building it in Squarespace. Never came back to me. Site still not finished.
And I have a third where they’ve paid the deposit - 50% - and gone off to work on images and text. That was three months ago…