WhiteTiger
12-28-2009, 12:32 PM
Hi,
I am in the process of starting up a web design consultancy based in the London. I will be doing the sales, marketing and consultancy work here and outsourcing the actual design work to a old colleagues of mine who are now operating on a freelance basis.
The process is very simple, I will source jobs, write up a brief with all the relevant details and obtain a quote from a freelancer for design and hosting etc and on top of this I will apply a percentage for consultancy depending on the size of the project and amount of consultancy required.
The only difficulty I am facing is that although I know the work will be of excellent quality (As I have worked with my freelances before) I do not want to be held liable for any hosting issues, problems with the site, loss of earnings incurred because of faulty design (Unlikeley to happen, but covering all evtualities...!).
For example, hyperthetically speaking I have 10 clients that have used a specific freelancer, he/she has designed the site, hosts it and manages it (Any amendments are run through me as a third party) and then their hosting/site malfunctions. These businesses loose X amont for the sites being down, how can I exclude liability as I will only be operating as a third party/agency and not directly repsonisible for the work??
The simple way would be for the client to pay me and the designer seperately, this immediately removes liability from the site as I will be paid for only the consultancy, however I don't want the client to be paying 2 people, it won't seem right and may put people off if I charge a "consultancy fee" in a quote as they will think that it is just an extra on top of the design???
Any thoughts would be very helpful....
I am in the process of starting up a web design consultancy based in the London. I will be doing the sales, marketing and consultancy work here and outsourcing the actual design work to a old colleagues of mine who are now operating on a freelance basis.
The process is very simple, I will source jobs, write up a brief with all the relevant details and obtain a quote from a freelancer for design and hosting etc and on top of this I will apply a percentage for consultancy depending on the size of the project and amount of consultancy required.
The only difficulty I am facing is that although I know the work will be of excellent quality (As I have worked with my freelances before) I do not want to be held liable for any hosting issues, problems with the site, loss of earnings incurred because of faulty design (Unlikeley to happen, but covering all evtualities...!).
For example, hyperthetically speaking I have 10 clients that have used a specific freelancer, he/she has designed the site, hosts it and manages it (Any amendments are run through me as a third party) and then their hosting/site malfunctions. These businesses loose X amont for the sites being down, how can I exclude liability as I will only be operating as a third party/agency and not directly repsonisible for the work??
The simple way would be for the client to pay me and the designer seperately, this immediately removes liability from the site as I will be paid for only the consultancy, however I don't want the client to be paying 2 people, it won't seem right and may put people off if I charge a "consultancy fee" in a quote as they will think that it is just an extra on top of the design???
Any thoughts would be very helpful....