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I have been working on my second Flash game project for new clients, but faced with the facts that I have not yet been paid for the first one, that we do not yet have a mutually acceptable contract, and that the company seems inclined to pay me solely on net 30 terms, my morale and motivation for the project have both been low. Making games is fun for me, but not knowing how I am going to pay my rent and other bills and buy food is not fun and that significantly detracts from the whole experience.
After considering two contracts that did not quite apply to our arrangement, I am considering a third, which was supposedly drafted for our particular arrangement, but which remains more restrictive and otherwise problematic than I would like. The clients do seem somewhat flexible, but whether they are flexible enough to modify the contract to my satisfaction remains to be seen. If not, then our impasse would seem to preclude the continuation of our current project and any potential work on any future projects.
My problem with net 30 payment is that it simply does not work for individuals who do not already happen to have deep pockets and frankly, I am beyond poor right now; I was able to pay this month's rent and other basic living expenses only because I received a small student loan and a one-time personal loan from a friend. I simply don't have money sitting around to live off of while I am working on a project for up to a month then waiting for up to a few days for approval of the final project and up to thirty days after that approval for my final payment—that could add up to over two months after the beginning of the project until I receive final payment.
Even if I were to receive partial payments following milestone deliverables, net 30 payment would delay them quite unreasonably. I may not receive my first payment for my current project until the middle of November and my final payment well into December. For someone who does not have enough money to pay his next round of bills in October 2007, though, December 2007 might as well be December 2008.
Even a payment made for the start of a project wouldn't seem very timely if it were delayed for up to thirty days. (Web and Flash developers often require half of their expected fees up front, especially when charging flat rates for projects.)
So just find other work to get the bills paid while waiting for payment from these clients, right? That makes sense, but unfortunately, in the contract that I am currently considering, my new clients require priority for their project over all others, so if something else needs to be my main project so I can pay my basic living expenses, it means I can't do the project my new clients want me to do; I simply can't commit to their primacy if doing so precludes me from accepting faster-paying work.
I like my new clients and I like developing games, but if I can't get paid in a reasonable amount of time that will keep a roof over my head, my utilities on, and food in my kitchen, I will have no choice but to find faster-paying work whether that leaves me with time to complete their project according to their schedule or not. I am not some big company with a whole accounting department, checks coming and going, and plenty of money in the bank; I am just one guy with bills to pay.
