What to do if the client is a friend / good friend?

Whatever profession you have, whatever your occupation, there will always be a friend or a good friend who wants to use your services. Or he urgently needs something to help, fix, file, clean ... And you just know how it is, and besides, also seems to be a good idea.
One thing is free friendly help for five minutes, and quite another is to make a whole project for money with terms of a month or half a year.
And for this situation, I have a few (for someone obvious!) Tips, rules that I would like to share, working in the development of sites.

1. Do not work with friends.

Yes exactly. If you have a choice (for example, a huge queue of clients), then it is better to choose a good client than a good friend (or, God forbid, a relative) as a client.
Why? Yes, because there is a possibility that after the project your friend will be unhappy, or you will be unhappy, or everyone will be unhappy. Moreover, even if you, from your point of view, have done the work ideally and for minimal money, your friend may find it different. And this friendship will not benefit.
Better advise a friend of proven guys, or advise how you can do it yourself.
But if you still decided to work with your friend as a client, then go further:

2. Agree on the shore. Make up TK.

My big mistake when working with some friends was that we “didn't bother” on TK.
Arguments were about the following:
- little work, and so everything is clear;
- We have known each other for a long time;
- let's do it “like here”;
- do as you have already done, but here is another "such and such thing";
and so on ...
')
Moreover, when I worked with ordinary clients who gave similar arguments, I still insisted on drawing up a detailed TK, even if it was working for 5 hours, anticipating possible risks and misunderstandings. In the case of friends, this mechanism for some reason turned off in my head.
And then I learned that my friends are the same customers (if you started working with them), they also often do not understand what they want and how much they are willing to pay and for what. Making TK removes many questions, both from him and from you. At the end of the project, it will be much easier for both if this TK is.

3. Cooperation should be beneficial to all parties.

People often have a scheme that if you place an order with a good friend, it will be MUCH cheaper than usual. This is especially true of services, because pricing is not always clear and obvious. And it seems to many that the cost of services generally tends to zero.
So - I adhere to the policy that friends can make a discount. You can even make a good discount. But such that the process of work does not turn into hard labor for you and motivation is not lost. Agree, it’s not very productive to work on a project, constantly thinking that you would get 3 times more for the same project for a normal client.
I had such projects for good acquaintances, for which I took pennies, did a good project, and then they were still unhappy. Because they wanted more of this and that, completely without focusing on the market and prices, and thinking that it was all very cheap and that “it was necessary to do it on my own too.”

4. Sign the contract!

With a friend it is difficult and not always possible. The issue of trust is immediately raised, and so on. You just need to explain that the contract is a simple formality, and this is essentially a contract “on the table,” which is never useful anywhere. In the end - if both parties are friendly and have responsible trusting relationships, the contract is only a confirmation of this, and not a hindrance.
I believe that the contract should be in any case, although I myself - oh sin - sometimes work without it (in this case I fix the price in the signed TK), if item number 5 is fulfilled.

5. Take a prepayment.

Often, the level of trust in a friend is so high that the question of prepayment is left to this person’s discretion. And sometimes, in general, the calculation for the entire project (in debt, for example) - which will be made incomprehensibly when and how. This is in my opinion a bad situation for a developer and this is not a mutually beneficial cooperation. Work and time are the same money.
Prepayments are a guarantee that the client friend will not lose his distance (“I'm sorry, this project is no longer interesting for me,” “I'm sorry, I have problems with money”) and will be more interested in the project. And also it is a guarantee that you will have more motivation to work and there will be a sense of "honesty" of the game.

Summary

Friends may well be customers, but we must not forget that the rules for them should be the same as for other customers. And it is better to formalize your business relationship to the maximum. Otherwise it can harm friendly relations.

Be friendly and customer-oriented! Successes!