Congradulations, Randy!
First, do you have liability insurance? If you don't then see your insurance agent and take out at least *one million* worth. Should cost no more than $300-$500, unless you've been sued before or filed a law wuit somewhere.

The following advice may be a bit late, BUT, I hope you have a written contract that spells out what it is they want you to do, the dates for milestones and completion, who is responsible for writing off on your completed components, and the manner and timelyness of their payments to you. Also, what actions can be taken if they fail to pay you in a timely manner. You will also want to include clauses that delineate what you know already as opposed to what you may learn while creating a solution to their business problem. One problem you will run into IF you contracted for the 'job' and not by the hour is when they 'add' another component to the project because someone 'forgot'. Even the best system analysis won't overcome what they forget to disclose.

You should understand that if they did their homework they KNOW that you are a consulting rookie. If they have agreed to hire you without a well written contract be very cautious, even suspecious! If they didn't do their homework that is almost as bad... either way they are without a clue and if insurmountable development problems arise, or business conditions sour, their fingers and lawyers are going to be aimed at you as the cause!

I repeat, good luck.
The first one can often be a real eye-opener and if you get through it ok there will be time for you to analyze events and rethink your approach. A task that should be done after every job is completed.
Jerry


>Hello all,
> I am happy to say that I am getting ready to start my first contract job! I am very excited, but at the same time I am pretty scared. Thoughts of getting sued or any other court or money matter are running through my head. Since this is my first contract job, I have no idea what type of contract I need to set up to lay out the basis of the deal. Does anyone have a contract I could look at to give me an idea of what to write up? This is basically a part time job on the side, up to about 10 ten hours a week. I will automating parts of a manufacturing business. At first the job was listed as a VB job, but after furthur discussion I talked them into using VFP! Thanks for your time and support.
>
>Randy Belcher
>randy_belcher@yahoo.com