How do I handle a client who wants work started before signing a contract?

[AuroraS]

Our small business has documents scattered across shared drives, email attachments, and individual computers. We need a proper document management system but most seem designed for large enterprises with IT departments. What document management systems have you seen work well for small businesses? We need something that's easy to set up, secure, and helps us organize and find documents efficiently.

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For small businesses, I recommend looking at DocuWare or M-Files. Both are designed to be manageable without dedicated IT staff. They handle document capture, organization, retrieval, and security well. The cloud versions are particularly good for small teams because they don't require server maintenance.

[TimothyQR]

We use Google Drive with a well-organized folder structure and naming conventions. For a small business, it's hard to beat the simplicity and cost-effectiveness. The search is powerful, version history is automatic, and sharing controls are easy to manage. We supplement it with DocuSign for contracts and signatures.

[GraceJ]

For our small consulting firm, we use SharePoint Online (part of Microsoft 365). It gives us proper document management features like metadata, version control, and approval workflows without being overwhelming. The learning curve is reasonable, and most people are already familiar with the basic interface from using other Office apps.

[Penelope42]

I just had a potential client ask me to start work before the contract is signed, saying their legal team is slow but they need to get moving. They seem genuine, but I’m worried about scope creep or not getting paid for that initial work without anything in writing. Has anyone else navigated this kind of pressure?

[JonathanS]

I had a client push for starting work before anything was signed. I pushed back with a paid discovery slot, three hours max, and a simple memo outlining deliverables. It bought us time and kept me paid if they walked away.

[AveryNW]

I tried to keep it informal, draft a loose scope, and hoped the relationship would carry us. Weeks later we were still arguing about tiny details, and I ended up charging for a small first phase and waiting for a real agreement after we delivered.

[LilyNL]

There was a time I offered a tiny pilot with a hard hour cap and a concrete deliverable. It showed me what they actually needed and let me bill for something tangible.

[Kyle23]

Sometimes the hurdle isn't the paperwork but their internal process. Is the real problem their slow legal review, or something else?

[Richard.G]

I once did the work on trust, tracked hours, and then got stuck with late payment or a dispute. It’s a reminder to put a cap on scope even when the client seems eager.

[RyanHM]

I started asking for a two page SOW and an email from a sponsor confirming scope and acceptance. It helped avoid misunderstandings.

[Edward.J]

Now I tend to do paid discovery and nothing beyond that without a signed plan.