Doing the Work

This is one of an occasional series on how 3hv conducts its business processes. You can read more here, subscribe to be notified whenever a new article is posted or find out why hiring 3hv will benefit your business.

So I’ve got the sale. Nice work fella.

Now what?

Well, I want to make sure that I don’t lose money, and as a service business, time is money. Absolutely vital to the success of any business is that I keep a lid on the costs - my time in this case.

So the project (which, in most cases, is fixed price) needs to go into my time-tracking software (I’m currently using Freshbooks as I can invoice and get paid, online as well - but I’m not wedded to them). And my task list needs to go into Basecamp (because I make a living on the web and everyone uses Basecamp don’t they?).

Then, just plough through the tasks, one at a time (more on this in a later post). Once it is completed, the tests pass, the page looks nice and I’ve gone back and tidied up the code, tick the task in Basecamp and record the hours in Freshbooks.

Now, one of the most important bits. Post a message in Basecamp, addressed to the client, explaining what I have done, how it works (in English, not techno-shite) and why it works that way. Not forgetting to include a link to the new feature, so the client can evaluate it straight away. In other words, get feedback from the customer as early as possible. This minimises misunderstandings and means that I can react quickly to mis-steps and mis-communications (because they always happen). If there is feedback, deal with it (if necessary, negotiating an extra charge if it is beyond the scope of the original request).

Once all the tasks are completed (and they should be to the client’s satisfaction, as they have been checking as we go), I can build the invoice, send it to the customer and then watch my bank account like a hawk as the pennies come flooding in. Unless I need to chase them (well Freshbooks does that for me). When the payment comes in, update my accounts, have a nice sit down, glass of red wine and buy an iPhone (well maybe not).

Yeah yeah, them’s the words, where’s the pictures? Here - “Do a Project and Invoice it”

3hv is a small software company in the North of England. You can find out more by visiting the web-site - or just subscribe to be notified when new articles are posted (here or on the technical blog).

Posted on December 19th, 2007 | By: Rahoul Baruah | Filed under General

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