I am Katya Malaya
If you see this page, it means that you are just like me 4 years ago, tormented by the grayness and opacity of relationships with clients and contractors.
Overwork, feeling insecure to the whims of clients, conflict situations where the designer chooses to retreat - I had it all before I decided to invest in the services of a competent lawyer. Drafting the three main contracts (Vertrag Designleistungen, AGB, Provisionsrahmenvereinbarung) cost me 4.000 euros (lawyer's fee - 250 euros + VAT per hour!)
It's a hell of a lot for a freelance designer, especially if you didn't count on such expenses and in general, you are just starting to work in a new country.
But I made up my mind. And guess what? It turned out that Contract is such a magic wand, which turns clients into nice and decent people and generally makes our lives better!
I'm a generous person, and I really like to do good. Once, watching the agony of my friend - a Berlin designer - I offered to give her a contract for free, but she refused! "I can't," she said, "accept such an expensive gift. I definitely don't want to quarrel with anyone's conscience, so now all the documents are for sale, but much cheaper than an airplane wing :)
But the benefits don't end there! During 5 years of work in Germany, our studio has created an impressive portfolio of templates necessary for professional project management. I have observed more than once what a magical effect Grand Budget, Full Project Estimate, Delivery Checklist, for example, has on clients. If you not only design but also realize your projects, such things will be 100% useful for you.
We store them in Google tables and make them available to clients. Formulas and filters are set up in them, the grand budget already includes "hospital average" prices for items from the cleanup estimate, finishing work and materials, and you have the option to choose from three price segments (Basic, Plus, Premium). We never start detailing the design without discussing the estimate with the client, this is one of the most important meetings during the entire design process, it is what allows us to avoid situations of "everything is beautiful but very expensive, offer everything twice cheaper" when the project is already ready. It is better to hear this at the beginning of the project and to offer the client to determine on which specific items they will decide to save money.
