Curious:  What’s the general practice regarding when to send a contract?  Do you typically include a contract with your written proposal, or do you wait until proposal is approved before sending contract?

TIA

For me it depends.  Most of the time a combination quote/proposal/contract.  For larger projects it’s generally proposal then contract.

Proposal then contract upon acceptance of proposal.

A contract strikes me as a very formal document, and the proposal is rather casual.
A contract is a mutual agreement also, no use sending one until the proposal is successful.
If the would-be client requests seeing your contracts ahead of time, it shouldn’t be a problem, maybe they are not familiar with contract in general for design services.

speaking of development/design contracts, does anyone know where I can find some templates to use. I haven’t yet started business but will be shortly and would like to be prepared with a contract that I can modify to my needs. I have no idea where to start and thus need something to start with.

First one I googled: resources/contracts I know there are some good books out there some have websites with free documents downloads, can’t think what they are offhand. Check Amazon under web design business, and then you might have to search for the actual publishing sites.
I’m thinking someone around here will know, Leslie C. mentioned one of those resources recently, I think.
The EE site has a form for design proposals that is very good, just knowing what is on it and asking the appropriate questions at a proposal meeting worked pretty well for me the other week. They loved my first comp after the meeting, that’s rare. I asked the question from the proposal form, should the site be, corporate, fun, etc., and they all said make it fun, woo-hoo. Project survey link at the top of the page.

The Linguist - 03 June 2008 07:52 PM

speaking of development/design contracts, does anyone know where I can find some templates to use. I haven’t yet started business but will be shortly and would like to be prepared with a contract that I can modify to my needs. I have no idea where to start and thus need something to start with.

Try: ( http://www.webdevdocs.com )

tip-ee, carvingCode,

Thanks for the links, will check them out shortly.

tip-ee - 03 June 2008 07:46 PM

A contract strikes me as a very formal document, and the proposal is rather casual.
A contract is a mutual agreement also, no use sending one until the proposal is successful.
If the would-be client requests seeing your contracts ahead of time, it shouldn’t be a problem, maybe they are not familiar with contract in general for design services.

I think this is an excellent answer to the question.

There are usually 3 steps to securring a contract (if it’s a formal process).

Step 1. An RFQ is presented (request for quote). You, as the hopeful winner of the contract take this document and decide what it will take to complete the project. Usually there is a list of detailed requirements so barring any research you’ll know what you need.

Side note: if what you’re trying to secure is not a formal bid, this step is often skipped, and an informal request is made. Something like an email or conversation outlining the project. Either one require the same result. Your bid.

Step 2. You gather your resources, define your limitations and need for external assistance, figure all your costs, and an acceptable profit margin and you submit it to the RFQ requestor.

Step 3. The potential client accepts a bid (hopefully yours) and there is a signature approval on your quote. Again in an informal practice it could just be an email saying OK let’s do it, or something similar.

Step 4. You define your steps processed and procedures, including things like a communication plan (with the client) estimated completion date, and a defined set of deliverables.

If the client agrees with your documents it is signed and that becomes a formal contract. They can also at this time dispute some of the items in your list, redirect you in some, add and delete others. You have to agree to these changes as well.

That’s a rough idea of how I view contract work. There is a better way to do this, in a flowchart but you don’t really need to see that. The bottom line answer is you can’t legitimately submit a contract at proposal time because at that point they haven’t even agreed to award you the project.

Also, I usually submit these documents in a signed (Digitally) PDF document. This assures you that your original document and details have not been altered.

I’ve found that clients tend to put together an RFP and ask for proposals and estimates, then when you win the job and sit down with them in discovery you find out they’ve only really put in about 25% of what they actually want to do. Also they’ve asked for estimates on a bulleted list - and there are so many variables that it’s nearly impossible to give a true estimate. It’s always fun to have to explain why your final quote is so much different than your original bid. So for me it usually ends up with at least a third step: proposal, general contract, and an extremely specific scope/estimate as an addendum (and the final version of this comes after discovery - which can be months after the actual contract is signed depending on the size of the project).