Why I Charge An Advance
If we can figure out how much a project is going to cost, I take 50% advance. If the amount is less than $100, you’ll need to submit the entire amount, with a 100% money-back guarantee if you don’t like what I’ve written for you.
There are three reasons, and I’ll talk about the third one first:
Clients sometimes don’t pay after getting the work done
I’m not saying they are all cheats — it just happens sometimes — they use the copy on their web pages, and then quietly go on their daily business without even bothering to reply. These are the same clients who talk of great business ethics and trust when they approach me, want me to work for them but don’t want to pay an advance. And I being the way I am, given a choice between trusting and not trusting people, go for the former option by default. So don’t take it personally if I insist upon taking an advance — it’s not personal — It’s a rule I’ve made for myself and I stick to it.
The second reason:
It weeds out non-serious, unprofessional clients
People who are serious about their business realize the importance of time and money and they know how crucial it is to make sure one gets paid. Such people not only readily pay an advance, they actually insist on paying an advance. On top of that, even if they ask you to submit a sample, sometimes they are ready to pay for the sample if they are going to use that sample. It’s only the unprofessional, non-serious clients who don’t like to pay an up front amount. 99.99% of such clients wrap up their “new ventures” within a couple of months and they are generally of the mentality that things on the Internet are either free or dirt-cheap.
The first reason:
Every decent service provider takes an advance
That explains it.
