Re: Newbie Contractor needs advice

[Nancy Smith <smithcds -at- ICI -dot- NET>]

When I started my current contract, I worked maybe 4
days out of the first 6 -- because there was no work
to do.  Since I work from home, that was great!  And
yes, I billed for 8 hours a day because I was
expected to *be available* to work for them for that
amount of time -- and I was!  Being available
prevented me from working for someone else during
that time period.

I guess it's all in how you get the contract
written.

I remember an on-site contract many years ago when I
let them know that I had 12 hours of downtime that
week because I didn't have a system.  (The managers
couldn't agree whose budget to take the system
from!(  When I pointed that out to them, they
remedied the situation fairly quickly!

Nancy

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Technical Writers List; for all Technical
Communication issues
> [mailto:TECHWR-L -at- listserv -dot- okstate -dot- edu]On Behalf Of
> temoore -at- bellsouth -dot- net
> Sent: Tuesday, August 17, 1999 4:38 PM
> To: TECHWR-L -at- listserv -dot- okstate -dot- edu
> Subject: Newbie Contractor needs advice
>
>
> I'm new at this consulting gig. I'm sure you all
remember that email I
> sent about a client who wanted a 100-page manual
in 8 days. Well, as
> anticipated, the whole thing is a mess. The plan
was that the
> SME would
> submit the content, and I would import the text
and graphics into the
> template (basically a layout job). I expected to
work 40-50
> hours a week
> to get this accomplished. (Unfortunately, I was
not able to
> negotiate a
> fixed-rate.)
>
> I arranged time in my schedule to accommodate this
client, and the SME
> has not been keeping up their end of the bargain.
The result
> is that the
> manual has been reduced to around 50 pages and I
have not put in the
> hours expected. I wait and wait for the SME to
submit the information
> needed, and I call and leave messages and email
with the SME and the
> Project Manager to no avail. In fact, I spent an
entire day and a half
> trying to get someone to answer my phone calls and
even physically
> visited the office with no results. (Do I bill for
that time?)
>
> Because it's an hourly assignment, I've lost
significant $ in the
> process. How do you, as contractors, protect
yourself against this? Is
> it possible to require a client to agree to, say,
a minimum
> of 40 hours
> a week for two weeks? How do you handle such
situations?
>
> Thanks for your help.
>
>
>
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