
How to deal with client who is “looking for funding” - engineerforhire
Around a year ago I had started a project with a group of people who had an idea, enthusiasm, and (I believed) money to back it. My role in the project was to design&#x2F;develop an iPhone, Android, Web App and API for their idea and we were all excited to get started.<p>We signed a contract stating that I own all rights to the software and IP until the full amount was paid, contract could be terminated whenever, and they paid an initial deposit. We were off to the races. Over the next 6 months or so they paid 2 of the 5 payments, with no payments coming in the last 4 months of development. Having had someone vouch for them ahead of time, and their timeliness with the first 2 payments I assumed the rest would come soon after... and kept assuming that.<p>Now, clearly that&#x27;s my fault for letting it get to this point :) But, now that I realize they don&#x27;t have the money but are &quot;working on getting funding&quot; and &quot;are very close with multiple groups&quot;... what are my options?<p>Has anyone been in a similar situation? Should I let them keep the software running (which is currently live with multiple contracts)? Should I shut it off, which may limit their ability to get funding? Should I try to sell the whole package to a third party? They are also using and pitching a product I built that they have not paid for, which kind of rubs me the wrong way for obvious reasons.<p>Fun stuff! Any thoughts are greatly appreciated :)
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sharemywin
What are the features? How much are you looking to get for the software?

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engineerforhire
Hey @sharemywin, pretty solid question :) Should have mentioned that. It's a
content management system for Medical Marijuana dispensaries.

The main feature-set for the Software Owner:

1) Add new dispensaries 2) Customize dispensary info 3) Generate a custom
iPhone/Android app for that dispensary

The main feature-set for the Dispensary Owner:

1) Enable/Disable features (Instagram-esk Gallery, Rewards, Points, Punch
Cards, Menu, Location, Events, etc.) 2) Modify branding/colors 3) View/manage
dispensary users 4) Send notifications to users

The main feature-set for Dispensary Cashier:

1) Add points 2) Punch cards 3) Lookup/verify users 4) View rewards/punch
cards/menu

The main feature-set for Users:

1) iPhone App (with above features) 2) Android App (with above features)

There are probably some things I'm missing, but that's the gist of it :) As
you can imagine, it took me a long time to build all of that. If I were to
sell it (is that something people do when this happens?) the goal would be to
get something around 100-150k for the entire setup, but getting back any of
the money (aka, time) I undoubtedly lost on the project would be ideal.

Thanks for any advice!

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sharemywin
Seems like it could be re-engineered to pretty much any industry. Is it web
based? why not sell it Saas for any industry and try to recoup that way.

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engineerforhire
Interesting point!! Could definitely be repurposed for any industry.

Selling it as a SaaS system is definitely one option, though it would mean I
would have to spend time selling, promoting and supporting it, which isn't
something I'm toooo keen on.

Thanks for the great advice though! Definitely a thought to keep in mind.

