Just started my web development business.

[RuskiLB]

Hello everyone. I' am new to this forum, have been interested in this field for many years. Since I was about 12, my first program to use was flash loved it. I've been creating websites for friends and family for sometime now, but just recently I got to work on a web site for a pretty known company here in Southern California. I welcomed the opportunity and after about 20 hours worth of work I' am finally done.
I have not hosted the site just yet, the owner agreed to pay me $X for the design and $X a month for hosting with 5 updates a year and an extra $X a year for the domain. He got a heck of a deal. Its a flash based website looks very clean and professional. I used photo shop to drop shadows and it looks great. So this is when I decided to start my own web development business. My service will include web design, web hosting, and other services to help promote their business.
Since I' am new to this, I did read some laws for this field. I pretty much understand most of it, although there was a lot of things I wish I knew. Which is why I' am here, to seek help and advice.
My first concern is to whether or not provide my clients with the user name and password to access their site through my server? I was thinking not to, so that in case they fail to pay their monthly bill I can take off their web page until those payments are made. Could I possibly run into any legal issues doing that? And what if in case they decide they want to host with someone else, I' am I obligated to give them all the files for the site, or do I own the material?
Thanks in advance
no payment discussions

[yamaharuss]

The answers to everything you ask really depend on the agreement you have with your client. I have no problem giving FTP access to my clients who request it (though most of them don't) .. you can always change or delete the username on the server.

If you are paid to develop a site then it really belongs to the person who bought it, unless other arrangements are made such as agreeing to give "access" to your service for a monthly fee. Otherwise, if you are paid a flat fee to develop something and they decide to host elsewhere... what have they paid for if you decide you want to deny them access to the files?

[tracknut]

I agree with the previous post, and want to encourage you to provide the service your customers want - and put it in a contract. By that, I would suggest:

- Define the scope of the site, features, etc
- Ask yourself if your customer expects to lose his whole site if he changes hosting
- If you have your own, or other proprietary software on the site - let the customer know and give him his options regarding licensing, costs, etc
- While you're at it, make sure any use of copyrighted material or images is handled appropriately
- Ask yourself if your customer really wants a monthly bill for a couple bucks for hosting
- Determine whether there is any need or value to giving the customer FTP access
- Find out the most convenient way for your customer to provide you updates, and do whatever that is
- Put this all in a contract with your quoted costs, with the customer

There's more I'm sure, but these are just some thoughts for you.

Dave