A few days ago, I met with a prospective client, and during the course of our discussion I found myself repeatedly trying to convince them to abandon many of the plans they had for their new website. The client had some interesting ideas: a new e-commerce system, a custom video upload tool, and a mobile [...]

One of the challenges in managing your own design business is setting boundaries, especially if you work from home. If left unchecked, work has a tendency to overflow into your personal life, which can undermine the benefit of owning a business and having a flexible work schedule.

When I started out as a freelance web designer back in college, I charged a very modest hourly rate. After my business became a full-time venture, I increased my rate significantly, because I found that people didn’t take me seriously when they found out how little I charged. Suddenly, just by charging more, I was able to more easily convey myself as an expert, and my business grew quickly… for a while.

I just returned from a weeklong vacation. As a business owner, vacations can be difficult, and this one was no exception. A few fires had to be put out while I was away, which caused some inconvenience for me and my family. And now that I’m back, there are way too many e-mails in my inbox and I’ve got lots of work to catch up on. Nevertheless, my time away was well worth it.

Before providing web design and development services to a client, or even accepting payment from them, it’s important to have a contract in place for the protection of both parties. Although you should always consult an attorney when drafting a document like this, here are some key points that you might want to cover in your contract.