Malcolm,

I may have overlooked something in my last reply.

A lot of times, people like this have been seriously burned by a programmer in the past. This business ownere might have had this happen to them. If this is the case they're just looking to avoid the pain. You need to understand that from their pov they are scared witless of the pain potential, again, usually based on a lot of prior programmers' broken promises. Maybe they spent a ton of dough and got nothing for example.

The business guy is more often than not a good guy and I didn't want you to think I thought they were all creeps. *g*

Finding their needs and finding a "fit" for them might be the best route. In a case like this I might even just give them the references and build future good will up.

The overarching question IMO should be, "What is the absolutel best solution for my customer?"

Give that to them no matter what and you'll succeed.

Best,

DD