Terms Available

Everyone always wants to know, but is reluctant to ask, what kind of terms are available?  It's a natural question that is necessary to any successful business arrangement.

As with so many things in life, the answer is...it depends.  Everybody's situation is different.  Some of the factors that come into play include:

• The exact nature of the work being performed.
• The expected duration of the work.
• Is the work in the nature of an on-going service or a defined project.
• If a project, how well is it defined.
• Your financial situation.

Some common terms are:  Time and Materials (T&M);  Fixed Price;  and Retainer.

T&M is the most common arrangement.  In many cases, it is the only option offered.  Most people will be familiar with how this arrangement works.

Fixed Price is much less common.  It requires that the work be of a well defined scope and that I am running the project, not the customer.  If these two conditions, in addition to a few others, are not acceptable, then this option cannot be offered.

Retainers are used to lock-in a certain number of hours on a monthly basis.  For example, to provide ongoing maintenance for production systems that are in their sunset period.  Another example would be to provide for ongoing coaching or monitoring of projects and staff.

There are, of course, other arrangements which are possible.  So feel free to inquire.  Times are tight and people need to be flexible in today's market if they want to thrive.  I naturally assume that you wish to be successful as well.