Re: Clarification on Equip Rental Issue

[Tim Altom <taltom -at- IQUEST -dot- NET>]

At 12:30 PM 6/30/97 -0500, you wrote:
>     Hi all,
>     To clarify my obtuse writing: my friend quit working for the
>     consulting firm on Friday so she could begin her business as an
>     independent. Her client is the same firm that her consulting firm had
>     a contract with. In essence, her client project leader wanted her to
>     do the work (HTML Help, Winhelp, cool stuff), not just another body
>     from the consulting firm.
>
>     So, consulting firm waived their "do not hire/contract" agreement with
>     the client (usually, the consulting firm has an agreement with its
>     clients that the client won't try to hire or side-contract with the
>     consulting firm's employees). The problem child in this picture is the
>     client's bean counters.
>
>     My friend's in the midst of setting up the contract between her & her
>     client.
>
>     On another note: The client wants fixed bid, she wants time/materials
>     bid. Thoughts/ammunition? Also, wasn't there an STC Intercom article
>     about this?
>
>     Muchas gracias, mis amigos!
>
>     joe
>     Joe Sokohl
>     Manager of Documentation
>     Campbell Software, Inc.
>     http://www.campbellsoft.com
>
>     The opinions expressed in this mail are mine.
>     They don't necessarily represent Campbell Software or any of its
>     affiliates.
>
I hate to sound at all condescending, but it sounds as though the contractor
here is in way over her head for a first lone-ranger contract.

It's perfectly legitimate to ask a contractor for rental on equipment and so
forth. You can ask anything. It's also legitimate to say no, as I would.
That sort of nonsense irritates and complicates an already complex and
possibly contentious situation, given that the contractor has probably
already stepped on some bunions finding and taking away a client from her
former firm.

Having said that, it seems from the messages that the contractor has little
choice and may have to stick it out. She seems to have leaped at this
apparently golden opportunity without a fallback position. If she has one,
she should pull the ripcord now. Any client that tries to extract rentals
probably isn't going to be a cushy assignment and she'd be better off taking
another offer. However, she may have little choice. She may have to agree
until she can market her way to something better. Ideally, though, it's
probably best to walk away and spend the time looking for a suitable client.

The difference between them in contract terms should have been resolved
before she agreed to jump the creek. If she's never done solo flying before,
I'd suggest that she not try a fixed-price approach unless she protects
herself with lots and lots of contractual trapdoors. Most clients with
dictatorial bean-counters love fixed-price because it's predictable.
However, many projects don't have rigorous enough specifications to permit
such an approach. If the client is willing to pay for, and accept, the
development of really strict project specs, then the contractor can probably
commit herself to a fixed price with a fair amount of SWAG built in. Have
her pick up a copy of _Managing Your Documentation Projects_ by Hackos and
use Hackos' guidelines for estimating. However, she should know that the
Hackos' analyses, while excellent, are also lengthy and deep. Be prepared to
spend a solid weekend learning the principles of saving your butt with good
estimates. Without specs, though, fixed-price is doomed from the start. (How
many topics will the help file have? How many screens will the app have? And
on and on...)

All things considered, I have to conclude that she's flying more machine
than she can handle right now. If she's determined to proceed, then she may
have to steel herself to be roughly handled. She may well lose money, time,
and face in this contract, but if she's intent on staying a solo it might be
a good idea to make her tragic mistakes now, in one contract. We all have to
make them sometime.  If she's the cautious type, she'd be well advised to
back out now and seek out more agreeable surroundings.



Tim Altom
Vice President, Simply Written, Inc.
317.899.5882 (voice) 317.899.5987 (fax)
FrameMaker support  ForeHelp support
FrameMaker-to-HTML Conversions
HTML Help Consulting and Production

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