Hi. Ive been working with a client for around 1 year. The website I built is getting a good amount of orders and a lot of visitors. Ongoing work on the website is required from me (further development, SEO etc…). However, I would like to cease working with this client (due to time implications). From a legal standpoint, can I cease working for her (after giving her a reasonable amount of notice)? She’s quite a demanding and difficult client to have, and I don’t want things to sour. I don’t think she’s particularly litigious, but would like to protect myself anyway.
Im interested in hearing how others stop working with clients when they decide to.
Does it have dates in it at least? Is the contract for 1 year? 6 months? Or have you agreed to work for her for eternity for a price that will never change?
You don’t have to work for anybody and can walk away at any time you please. The question is, will they be entitled to any partial refund or compensation if you do terminate the relationship?
That depends on the agreement. If there are no termination clauses, and no set contract length then it may simply be a case of giving them reasonable notice.
It’s likely that most of their frustration will be directed at the hassle of finding a new vendor, so maybe help them with that before you cut ties.
Its an ad hoc arrangement - no fixed fee or set timescale. Every couple of weeks she wants new stuff building on the website. The project doesn’t really excite me and Il’d rather spend my time doing other work. I’m worried if she gets shirty about it that she could look to sue. It’s a complex system and will take another developer some time to get their head around how it works - even before they start doing work on it.
What could she sue you for? Inconvenience? Life’s full of tough breaks - one day you’ll get dumped by a client, but I doubt they’ll be worried for a second that you might sue them for ‘not wanting to work with me :bawling:’
I’m not saying just leave her in the lurch, try to find someone to take over, maybe create some documentation for the new developer, even offer to spend an hour going through stuff with the new developer etc, but in the end you can’t work for someone forever just because you’re scared to upset them.
