In this day and age, more and more joint ventures are being taken online. Why limit yourself to your state or even to your country when finding the right person for a project or job you are hiring for? There is endless opportunity when business managers widen the scope of where they look for clients that can move the needle within their company. Or maybe you are a service-based business that wants to open up their services to more clients. This post is going to focus on some important things to consider when working with a remote client!
Compose an Iron Clad Contract
Before the work even begins, a contract must be crafted and executed. Doing this keeps both you and the client accountable and clear on what the work relationship will truly look like. Here are some key points to ensure are included in the contract (Source: Web Designer Depot):
• A detailed plan of the work to be completed – What exactly is being paid for here? Here is where a map of the project belongs.
• A list of deliverables – What actual physical or digital items will be produced from this joint venture? A PowerPoint? Business proposal?
• Revision caps – If the client is not happy with the work, how many revisions will you accept? What if they want to completely scrap all the work you did and go a different direction, does this count as a “revision”?
• Deadlines – When must the project be completed by? Does the client need to sign off on changes for you to finish the task? Make sure to set clear deadlines so that clients aren’t dilly-dallying on proving content or review.
• Payment Terms – Of course this is a primary part of the contract. Everyone wants to know when they are getting paid! Will you be giving/taking part of the payment up front and the rest later? Maybe tie portions of the payment to certain parts of the project, or “milestones” instead of waiting until the very end of an ongoing lengthy project for payment.
Up Your Video Capabilities
What types of video capabilities does your organization currently have, if any? This will be your primary way of connecting with remote clients, and you need to make sure that you have the right video conferencing technology to have efficient and productive meetings. Here it would be helpful to go through all the necessary components and see if you already have what you need in place.
Here are some questions to consider:
• Do you and your employees already have laptops and desktops with webcams?
• Are the technological equipment and operating systems up to date?
• What does your internet connection speed look like? Fast speed is imperative here.
• What does your cybersecurity situation look like? Do you have enough security in place?
• Do you have enough support and maintenance to keep the systems running smoothly?
Web Apps for Client Collaboration
Video is not the only important part of managing clients that are not in-house. What happens when you need to actually work with the out of office client? Fortunately, there are many helpful tools available for online client collaboration. Web Designer Depot lists several helpful apps that can be enlisted for this:
Basecamp is one of the most popular, web-based project management tools available to businesses right now. Costs for utilizing this app are low, and it is very user-friendly. On top of that, it is straightforward and most likely covers all areas that you could need for successful collaboration. Other systems to consider would be Huddle, Wrike, or Smartsheet.
Getting the Ball Rolling
Working with remote clients is a great way to widen the scope on who you can select for a big project or job position within your business. It also helps service-based businesses grow their customer base! There are many important factors to consider before entering a partnership with an off-site client. The right contract, video equipment and collaboration apps are a great way to start! Does enlisting in joint ventures with remote client’s sound like something your business could benefit from? Consider what it would take for your organization to get there, no harm in thinking about it!
