The time I lost a client over a handshake deal at a trade show in Cleveland

Back in March, I met a potential client at the Midwest Manufacturing Expo in Cleveland. We shook hands on a project scope, agreed on a rough number around $4,500, and I started work the next week. Two weeks in, they came back with a different list of tasks and a lower budget, and I had no written contract to lean on. I ended up doing twice the work for nearly half the pay, just to keep the relationship. So here's the debate: in a service business, is a handshake still a bond, or should you always have a signed agreement before touching the work? Has anyone else lost money this way, and what did you do differently next time?

2 comments

2 Comments

kimr913d ago

Wait, you actually started work with no written agreement? That is wild, especially for a project that size. Honestly, even a simple one page email confirming the scope and price would have saved you from that mess. You live and you learn, but that $4,500 number turning into half pay is a hard lesson.

the_cameron2d ago

Learned that lesson the hard way, eh? Ouch.