I being the part of freelancing world love to talk about almost anything freelancers face, mistakes they should avoid infact any and everything that is related to freelancing interests me a lot. I have talked in length about the 6 Obvious Mistakes Every Freelance Designer Make, How you Should Not Disappoint your Design Clients, The Good Habits of a Successful Web Designer and many more such articles in which I listed down various trips and tricks to handle the clients, projects and other useful information for the freelancer friends.
I agree that I am not in designing or development but into freelance content generation but then almost every freelancer comes across the similar situation at one point or the other. Today’s topic of the day is why is it important for freelance designers to ask budget from clients. The answer is big Yes! Also, make sure that it is done at the initial stages before you take up any project not later on as this might create problems in future.
Every client is different! For the same kind of project : Logo designing for example one client might have a high budget while other might think the other way round and be low on budget. So, it is advisable to ask for freelance designers to ask the client questions related to the client’s budget and see to it if it suits before you kickstart and later realize your mistake.
In our article 6 Obvious Mistakes Every Freelance Designer Make I listed down a point reading Not Being Able To Make Out If Your Client Won’t Pay. Its the designer’s mistake not to know the budget of the client or make it out if their client is not going to pay for their services. See, the point is listening to the client to get the clear understanding of the project and all the other necessary things which the client wishes to convey is definitely a good thing but then having your say, putting questions before the client is of equal importance. Whatever you have in your mind, go ahead and ask the client before its late.
Here, I will be listing down reasons as to why it is important for a freelance designer to ask budget from the client. Scroll down to continue reading.
1. Professionally Talking About Money is Necessary
The very first reason as to why freelance designers should ask their clients regarding their budget is that it makes them appear professional. Years back, asking the clients for their budget sounded rude but then today, it makes you more professional. Sensible discussion on budget front is as important as exchanging information details of the design project.
If you don’t initiate the monetary topic, it might appear that you are not serious about the project or you are just a newbie who is not professional. If the clients that approach you or vice versa and they are hiring you as a profession indeed they have a vague number in mind as their budget for a particular project. Talking about budget will give you the idea if the client is going to pay or not.
2. No Risk of Landing into an Awkward Situation
It happened to one of my friend that he worked day and night to complete a design project and in the end what he got in return was not even a single penny. The design project that took a toll on his time and health too didn’t pay him anything and gave him a lessen to be clear on monetary terms initially.
Remember that point-Not delivering the project in parts which we listed down in one of our article? Make sure to sign the contract, keep a copy with yourself, and be clear in terms of money or else you will be landing up in the same situation.
3. It Helps you Assess their Need
Different clients can have different budget for same project. While discussing the project and the minutest detail about it make sure to ask what’s their budget. It will help you asses their need and you can work accordingly.
4. You can Work Together to Find a Solution
If while discussing the budget, you come to know that your client’s budget is low or the client feels you are charging more that the expected amount, you can sit and talk over this to find a solution but the key point is that you should talk openly regarding the budget and be open for negotiations.
5. Both (You and Client) Will Be Saving your Precious Time
Talking on budget part saves a lot of time and you come to know the expectations of the client. Many a time it happens that you spend hell lot of time discussing about the project and after having spent so much of your precious time when you discuss the budget, the end result is that you loose the project. What’s the point spending so much time on discussing the project without knowing the budget of the client.
To conclude, asking the client about their budget plays the vital role in the freelance designing world. We all have read this cliche sounding line-Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself and its actually true.
When you are sparing out time to read the tips and tricks of successful freelance designing. You come across many examples as to what others have faced. So, we should learn from the experiences of other people and ensure that we take teh right step. Have your say by dropping in the comments below.