john_k - 8:22 pm on Jan 5, 2006 (gmt 0)

When I encounter people like this, and I decide to help them anyway, I try to use building analogies.

She is asking you to be her architect and general contractor for a building, but she doesn't want to tell you what type of building she wants or what it will be used for. So you have no idea of how robust the architecture needs to be. Does she want a home, a factory, a warehouse, or an out-house? Further more, she is asking you to tell her how much it will cost with all finish and trim; expecting you to proceed with the contruction of the building; and then be able to tell you how to rearrange the colors, the rooms, the foundation, and add two floors. All of this with no increase to the agreed upon price.

Another issue to watch out for when working with a new business: They don't have any policies in place. They often want you to create large portion of their content. They don't know where the customer service emails should go. They haven't considered what shipping methods they will use. They don't even realize that having a "live chat" feature on their website requires that they have a "live body" feature at their facility. If you don't set boundaries, you can easily wind up doing a good deal of general business consulting for free.