FOR DESIGNERS
A CRM for designers: the deposit first, then the work
A CRM for designers should settle three things before the work starts: the price in a proposal, the scope and revision rounds in a signed contract, and a paid deposit. Aventide does all three for brand, web and interior designers. Sidekick, the AI in Aventide, drafts the paperwork; anything it drafts for a client waits for your approval.
IN YOUR WORDS
Should designers ask for a deposit before starting any work?
"No deposit, no work."
br3n, a senior member of Graphic Design Forums UK, in the thread "Asking Your Client For an Up-front Deposit?", February 16, 2012.
"when the work is finished and we reach the payment stage the client suddenly disappears from the face of the earth"
JeromeCollinge, the designer who opened the same thread, February 10, 2012.
"With fixed bid the risk and management of scope creep is on me. With hourly, on the client."
pbowyer, who has run a one-person web business in the UK for over 15 years, on Hacker News, March 4, 2022.
All three are about what was settled before the work began. The deposit decides who carries the risk when a client goes quiet, and the written scope decides who pays for the extra rounds.
STEP ONE
A proposal with the price and the revision rounds in it
Paste in your call notes, or bring them in from Fireflies or Granola, and ask Sidekick for a proposal. It shows you an outline with the price first; once you confirm it, the proposal is written in your logo, colors and fonts, with your exact figures. Name the deliverables and the number of revision rounds. Your client reads it online and accepts it. Our sales proposal guide walks through a brand designer's $12,000 proposal, part by part.
STEP TWO
Contract signed, deposit invoiced
When the client accepts, Aventide offers to draft the agreement from the proposal's price. Pick the built-in Design Project Agreement as its template. It asks for a 50% deposit before work begins, includes the revision rounds in your scope, sets a kill fee if the client cancels and keeps the work yours until the final payment. You countersign, then the client signs on your branded page. Their signature creates the deposit invoice, which waits for your approval unless you tick "Send invoice automatically after signing". Templates are starting points, not legal advice.
STEP THREE
Invoices as the work goes
Send the next invoice from the client's room when a milestone lands, and the balance at handoff. Clients pay by card through your own Stripe account, or by bank transfer if you turn it on in Stripe. Aventide takes 0% of what your clients pay you. When an invoice goes overdue, Sidekick drafts the follow-up and waits for your yes before it sends. If you keep your books in QuickBooks, Aventide syncs with it.
STEP FOUR
Deliverables in their portal
Each client gets a portal in your branding that holds the documents and files you share with them, such as the accepted proposal, the brand guidelines and the final logo files. The handoff lives in one place instead of an email thread. The portal is for handing over finished work. It is not a design canvas or a proofing tool, so keep designing in the tools you use now.
QUESTIONS
