This is why I don’t accept contracts from potential clients. I give them MY contract, and then explain to them (while walking them through it) how it really benefits both them and me, while protecting each other’s interests and bottom line.
If they refuse to work with my contract and demand that I use theirs, they better have a damn good reason to, as I am willing to accomodate amending my contract to meet their needs (sometimes it’s the difference between having a signed agreement and having a “Going Out of Business” sign placed on your door).
Increasing rates is really a big issue, it may cause you loosing clients.
But its a must, if you want to continue as a freelancer, so here are my tips:
understand your MARKET, what type of clients you have. Always remember that money is the big factor for selecting Freelancers over regular firms.
My idea, keep the old clients happy with old rates untill you dont get few new clients, ready to pay you more.
Once you have new clients, increase the rates for old clients too.
Looks like there are a ton of ways to “skin” this problem. Freelancing is tricky because while you start off making $X per project and soon are making $XX those people paying $X want to keep you as much if not more then the ones paying more for your services. I say find a way to raise those rates to an acceptable level and move forward… if you cannot then get rid of the client because the situation you are in is “Win-Lose”… Remember “Time and Expertise = Rate” and time isn’t worth nothing… it’s everything
You can’t ask for more once the contract is in force. If you’re losing money on it, you can ask them to pay you more, but they won’t be under an obligation to follow through. What happens then is that if you have no deadline, the project just happens to drag ooon. At least, that’s how things work in the construction indsutry, which obviously has some parallels to web dev.
Moral of the story: price properly at the outset.
But I think your problem is entirely different: your skills have increased since first signing and you want the price to increase accordingly. I’d suggest to finish the first project, through in a little extra something you don’t HAVE to, which will please the client enormously. Then mention that’s part of a enw set of skills you’ve acquired and if they need more work on the site, you’re glad to do it, but at a higher rate.
It’s a common and difficult issue for freelance developers to navigate but it’s not a bad problem to have. Of course, if you’ve entered into some sort of agreement with company A to do work for a period of time or on a certain project, you shouldn’t attempt to increase your rate until the work for which you’ve committed is completed. With that said, you need to consider that company A may not be willing or able to pay any more and may be turned off by your request, but if you believe you can replace the lost income from them with other work, then it’s worth a shot to provide them with notice that you intend to raise rates for future projects. I agree with everyone who has stated that your rate should reflect your experience and skills and generally over time those will increase. So, your growing portfolio of freelance work and customer satisfaction will allow you to charge more and there’s nothing wrong with seeking a higher rate from clients for whom you provided services in the past. Also, you can scale back the amount of work you are able to accept and perform for company A at their rate and tell them that you are being offered a higher rate from other clients.
