legal, mobile-apps, startup-costs, payment, difficult-clientIndian Client hired us (a startup in India) to build an app. We developed the app as per his idea, designs and feedbacks. Now that the app is ready, the client has refused to take the app and pay us for the effort. It took us 4 months to build this app and now we’re not getting paid for it. We signed a contract but there was no clause of “breaching”.
Should I publish the app to the play store after rebranding it? If yes, how much should I rebrand?
Will it invite some legal consequences?
Should I inform the client before doing so, so we can make negotiations, although I do not want to deal with him anymore?
Any other solutions?
If you’d like to answer the bigger question, please have a look here.
This is a lesson for not using something such as Upworks or paid by milestone. The money should have been deposited to an independent party. You should never work for any project without guarantee that it’ll be paid.
You may proceed with legal actions, but it will be very expensive and may not work at all depends on your contract. You claim your money is not delivered, but this is just one side of the story. In reality, your app might not meet expectation and requirements. If I were the buyer, I would not pay for anything clearly not what I defined in the contract. The fact that you refuse your client’s suggestions will complicate things. We don’t know if you’re right or wrong, because we don’t have the story from the other side. Only a judge can tell you who wins, and it will be very time consuming and expensive.
Your client has paid 20% of the money. In my experience, it is a serious business otherwise no money would be been made. I have seen many people asking me:
Everybody I deal with who bothers to pay a deposit before seeing a prototype completes the transaction with me. Only you can tell whether you have delivered something worth for the rest of the money. I have seen many contractors taking shortcuts, I am not saying you are because we don’t know.
Unfortunately, there is not much else you can do other than selling the app yourself. You own the app until it is paid. Even if the app has copyright materials from your client, I doubt your client will care to do anything.
Legal expenses in India are not that high and you can seriously consider that.
BUT, before getting into that, try to meet the client in person and try to understand what actually the issue is. Both of you reside in the same country and meeting him in person will help you get a complete picture. Whether the cofounder spoilt your image, has the client abandoned his app idea, whether he is having financial issues and needs more time?
Paying extra for the Source code comes as a surprise for most businesses who are not in the software industry.
Most feel cheated because they think it is the same as hiring an architect to design and supervise the construction of the building and then being asked to pay extra for the map/drawing.
Ask people who are selling packaged software how clients react when paying for AMC comes into picture.
Since in your other post, you have written that you do not like the UI of the app, there is very little chance of selling it to someone else. Even if someone is interested it would come with heavy customization requests.
Listing the app which you yourself don’t like would be an equally bad option.
The app doesn’t meet your quality expectations, so most probably the target users won’t like it either.
Running a business is more than just making the app. Since you developed the app doesn’t make you like its business model also. Your team might not be having the skills needed for that business. Why would you invest more money and time in a already loss making project?
You are there to run your business not someone else’s, don’t lose the focus of your business. Every business has faced unpaid clients and unsold products. It hurts but it’s part of business.
Take this as a lesson and be careful from the next time. If things don’t work out, take the legal route, let the lawyer decide and make up the case. Which clause will stand in the eyes of law, they know the best.
But before taking legal course, talk to the client in person, give some more discounts / source code cut short your losses and move on.
Business should never run on ego, swallow the hard pill, move on and invest your energy in what is best for your business’s future.
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