My absolute #1 recipe for a project disaster is a customer hell bent on shooting themselves in the foot.<p>Technically incompetent, yet forcing technical decisions. The one whose motto is "This is what I requested, but not what I need. It is your fault." No amount of signed requirements will protect you from getting the blame.
"# Ask yourself if your contract is bulletproof to begin with. Be sure to work with a lawyer...
# Make sure the contract you’re negotiating has plenty of wiggle room for revision work/iteration during the project..."<p>Not only do these two points contradict each other, my advice for web guys getting into the game is to take the advice of the latter recommendation. Small business owners hate contracts and don't want to see every detail spelled out. They see it as a trap, and will think of you as someone who's just looking for a reason to upcharge.<p>Your contracts should be just specific enough to make the client think you've thought of most everything, and include enough wiggle room if things get hairy, but shouldn't spell out every single little item. And stay the hell away from your attorney when composing this, they only make it worse and of course will charge you an assload for their work.<p>If your game is medium sized businesses or any corporate work, sure go ahead and write up that bulletproof contact. That's stuff corp and enterprise love to see so they can justify the expense to their higher ups ("look at this 20 page contact boss, it covers everything!").
>>"I have found that a “typical” website redesign effort (definition, information architecture, design, coding), if executed thoughtfully and thoroughly, can take at <i>least</i> five or six months to complete..."<p>WHAT!? 6 Months for a website!? HOLY MOLY! I thought taking 3 weeks to get a static site up was bad!