Don’t Waste Your Time Signing NDAs

When initially talking to potential clients about their project, we are sometimes asked to sign an NDA. In most cases, we don’t like to waste our time signing NDAs early in the process of getting acquainted with a web design project. We have 3 very good reasons why we’ve established this policy over time:

1. Ideas are worthless. When a client requests to sign an NDA right off the bat, that usually means they think a lot of their ideas in and of themselves. Generally speaking that means they have the wrong attitude towards developing a business.

2. Signing an NDA early on is a total waste of every one’s precious time. Your time is very valuable. You want to know whether or not this client/project is serious and a good fit for your company and the initial discovery phase is primordial. You want to stack the odds in your favor by always inspiring the best possible feelings towards your company, but at the same time you want to avoid wasting a significant amount of time in back-and-forth discussions and considerations. That means that you don’t want to be rude or appear in a rush, but you want to have the tools to judge if a project is attractive to your company or not as soon as possible. And if you decide that it’s not a good fit you want to move on and dedicate your time to projects that could be a good fit. Projects that will bring a higher ROI, move your company forward, and in general be more enjoyable.

3. Signing a legal document is not exactly the best way to get the sparks flying! When you sign an NDA with a client at an early stage, it makes your relationship with the client start with the wrong vibe. This may not seem significant, but it actually makes a huge difference. You don’t want to hit the sales road tripping.

When you do want to use an NDA is after you’ve reached a verbal agreement with the client about the general terms of the project such as time frame, budget, and project strategic goals – when both you and the client are pretty much certain you want to work with each other. In this case, you can use this free professional non-disclosure agreement template and move forward.