DEV Community

Jared
Jared

Posted on

What are you using for Project Proposals/Invoicing?

Front Matter

I've been freelancing for about four years now. I can't count the number of project proposals I've done during that time. That's a lie, I could, but then I have to look through the black hole that is my Google Drive.

My Process

To give you an idea of how the process works for starting a new project, it looks a little something like this:

  1. Usually get a referral from someone, which will come in the form of an e-mail (normally).
  2. I e-mail said person trying to get a gauge on what type of project it is.
  3. When they respond back, I'll do a bit of research and schedule a call to discuss it more in-depth.
  4. After I close the call, I give myself a couple of days to develop what I call the "Tech Design". This translates to a Google Doc full of stuff like:
  • Technology I'm going to use (Gatsby, etc.)
  • Hosting
  • Schedule Breakdown
  • Pricing
  1. When finished, I e-mail the client with the Google doc Link. They'll take a look and I'll get a written agreement by having them acknowledge the terms in via e-mail.
  2. Do the Project!
  3. Invoice via Freshbooks
  4. Wait 10 years for them to pay.

Your Process

There is always room for improvement. What are you doing for this process? I've got invoicing down, Freshbooks makes it super easy, but I think I can do better with the proposals.

Thoughts?

Top comments (2)

Collapse
 
tayambamwanza profile image
Tayamba Mwanza

I create a tier pricing options,
Economy,standard, premium

In Economy I give a list of bare minimum features (in reality it's my actual price), standard I add 2 more features than premium I add 2 as well but really good ideas that the client hasn't thought about, normally people pick standard (which is more than what I charge with one price) and recently I got my first premium client.

Collapse
 
codenutt profile image
Jared

That's smart. Thanks for sharing!