You know the “sure we have a deal NOW but what if you get hit by a bus?” hypothetical? It happened to me, almost 12 years ago. I had a key contract with a Polish factory, with their CEO that I met personally, and he got into a tragic and fatal traffic accident. His successor was a rival manager from the same company, and for him, any success that came from our deal could not bring him a bonus. So he killed our deal mid-contract.
That final blow sunk my first company, with 8 employees, for good.
There are some lessons there about not relying on a single contract, or not employing in a crisis, but I had little choice over those. What I could (and should) have done better, was the terms of engagement.
They had hired us to do a project that spans months but only had to pay us every month for services rendered like we were employees. The moment the new CEO decided they “changed their mind” they just ended the contract and ceased to have any financial obligations.
This is logical for a process, but not for a project like the one they ordered. You can’t have half your money back if you leave the movie theater in the middle of the film.
I should have had my lawyer set the contract to state that they were ordering a project with a fixed price. They were welcome to pay in monthly installments, but changing their mind would do nothing to lower what they owed us. You still can.