Contractual work / Freelancer- Questions

Hey, I think I there was a similar question before, but missed responding on that

answering your questions here

• should I and the person sign a contract? If yes, who prepares the contract and what should be it's contents? Yes, Please get the contract, use AI (Gemini/ GPT), a basic template would do. Most cases you won't fight if they don't stick to it, but best to have it on paper

• should any specific clauses be defined? List the scope of work, payment terms, termination, disagreement and confidentiality

• should I take up upfront fees? If you can, you should. This will keep them looking forward to the work, and you'll be interested in getting the balance payment. Work wins 👍

• how to handle them validating work is done or not? Define metrics. This much to be done by this time, make it result based than hour based. Define those results based on what you can achieve. Under commit, over deliver!

• should I not keep it hourly? Should I define the fees based on the work done? Would suggest project based fees, but please consider how many hours you may take to finish the project. We tend to overestimate ourselves when charging on projects, and then get stuck on some error for hours. So if you can track work with hours, charge hourly. Else project/ outcome based should be better.

"Contract zaroori hai, dost. It's your safety net. Always take some payment upfront. 'Kaam check karne ka' should be clear. 'Paisa, ghanta ya kaam', your call."