At what stage of development is it customary to take an advance payment?

Question

Project management

A relatively complex project is planned, which will involve more than 5 people in different specializations.
There are 2 intermediate stages
1. The manager conducts a demonstration, conducts an interview and orients at a price
2. Based on the interview, a commercial offer is created. This is preceded by a detailed development of TOR.
My suggestion is, after the interview, take a deposit for the time spent, in which the TOR is being worked out and another part after the estimate is approved.
It is unlikely that the classic 50/50 is suitable here. What do you think?

Answer 1

At what stage of development is it customary to take an advance payment?

Very much depends on the client. If there is no trust in the client, of course, earlier, but definitely after the formalization of the scope of work and cost.
The situation with technical specifications for a large project is complex.
Nobody will like this, you are actually forcing you to work with your team after the interview. If a customer arrives without a competent TOR for a large project, it makes sense to separate the preparation of TOR into a separate service, so that he can use it for evaluation by other teams. But, in practice, of course, very few people are ready to allocate a budget for technical specifications or consulting before the project, time losses are inevitable.

Answer 2

This is always the subject of a contract that suits both parties. What is the question?

Answer 3

Preparing technical specifications is very important.
If properly approached, then this is a separate position. And the work of a specialist in this position costs money.
How much to take depends on the situation. If the client is new, then take 10%.

Answer 4

There are chances to get an advance payment when the customer needs you for some reason - the best in the business, unusually cheap, you have the best practices the customer needs, or you just managed to spend the customer's time, which he appreciates and feels sorry for. If a client needs you to draw up a TOR, then perhaps he will pay.

Answer 5

It is most effective to break the entire project into 4 stages, determine the intermediate results and final results (the result of the stage), pay in proportion to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd stages of 20% of the total cost, the 4th stage, the final one - 40%.
If you pay more initially than at the end, this immediately demotivates the project participants, both on the one hand and on the other.

Answer 6

50/50 is suitable for small projects and for good trust in you (if you have already worked before).
For large projects, it can be broken down into smaller steps. Once every 2 weeks, for example, is quite a normal approach.
How many of these stages - depends on the length of the project. Maybe 100