FROM: Freeman Hrabowski, President, and Philip Rous, Provost
TO: The UMBC Community
RE: New Grants from the Hrabowski Fund for Innovation

We are delighted to announce the second set of projects to receive grants from the Hrabowski Fund for Innovation. These projects build on the strong commitment of our faculty to continually reimagine our students’ learning experiences.

The selection committee received a number of outstanding applications. The grant recipients were chosen by a committee comprised of faculty from each college, teaching award winners, and representatives from the Provost’s Office, Graduate School, and Office of Undergraduate Education. In selecting projects to fund, the committee sought initiatives that would address multiple courses or disciplines, respond broadly to student needs, affect student success or retention, and be sustainable.

Implementation and research grants

• Modeling as a Pedagogical Tool for the Life Sciences Curriculum– Led by Mauricio Bustos, associate professor of biological sciences, the team will use computer simulations of lab experiments to allow students in the biological sciences to focus on critical biology concepts rather than rote lab procedures. By removing the beakers, pipettes, and other distractions of the lab, the team hopes to enhance student focus on experiment design, observation, and interpretation.
• Enhancing Hands-On Problem-Solving across the Chemical Engineering Curriculum – A team led by Joshua Enszer, lecturer in chemical and biochemical engineering, will create a series of hands-on activities to connect a five-semester sequence of required courses in chemical engineering. The goal of the project is to show students how these separate courses are related, and enable them to see how the concepts they are learning in the classroom relate to the laboratory.

Seed grants

• Metacognitive Activity Promotions (MAPs) in Chemical Engineering Thinking – A team led by Mariajose Castellanos, assistant professor of chemical and biochemical engineering, will use sociological principles to examine the effect of written reflection exercises on students’ understanding of their chemical engineering coursework.

These projects join our first round of grant recipients in building on our strong history of finding novel approaches to teaching and scholarship. Established with major grants from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Heinz Awards, the Innovation Fund has also benefited from substantial support from alumni and friends, the local community and businesses, and state and national leaders. This support is a testament to the work we’ve already done and a vote of confidence for the national model we’re continuing to build.

The competition for the next round of Innovation Fund grants will be announced later this summer with a due date in fall. We want to thank everyone who has submitted a proposal, and encourage those whose proposals could not be funded in this round to apply again.

We are truly inspired by the creative ideas we hear each day and are delighted to be able to support more of them through this fund.

Managing cash-flow is at the heart of any service-based business, and it can be a huge challenge when you’re first starting out. We’ve all experienced the feast-or-famine cycle and I think it’s the number one thing that contributes to entrepreneurs flaming out and giving up.

It has taken me years to get a better handle on my cash-flow and even now, it can still be a struggle. Unfortunately, there is no one single solution to cash-flow problems, but I have found some success by examining and changing how I manage clients and their expectations.

1. Always get a deposit

Always, always, always get a deposit. You may not think it’s a big deal, but it is. The reason it’s such a big deal is because of client expectations, which you are solely responsible for setting.

There’s an old anecdote about a man who won the lottery. He decided that he wanted to help his neighbor, so every week he walked next door and handed his neighbor a $100 bill. The first week the neighbor was blown away by the man’s kindness and thanked him profusely. The second week was the same. But over time, the neighbor grew accustomed to receiving these $100 bills. He even began to feel he was owed this money. One day the man had no more $100 bills to give, so he stopped visiting his neighbor. To his great surprise, the neighbor was furious. “Where is my money?!” he demanded.

That’s a bit of a ridiculous analogy, but it shows how people respond to the expectations we set.

If you are willing to start working before you receive a deposit, you’re telling your client that they can walk all over you, and they will if given the opportunity. It’s not because they’re jerks, it’s because of the expectations you set at the beginning of the relationship.

2. Send regular invoices for smaller amounts

When I first started, I split payments into two equal parts: deposit and final payment. This can work with small projects (less than one month), but in general it’s a terrible idea.

Once my average project size grew to about three months, I found myself with large periods of no money. Maybe you’re the kind of person who can manage large sums of money every third month with nothing in between. I certainly am not and my guess is, most freelancers aren’t either.

So, what did I do? I decided to break up my billing into smaller, more frequent invoices. It looked something like this:

• First payment when project starts
• Second payment when design is complete
• Third payment when development is complete
• Fourth payment when project launches

This was a step in the right direction, but I still had a major problem; my billing was tied to deliverables. Which leads me to the next (and most important) point.

3. Don’t tie payments to deliverables

I’m sure the problem here is obvious. When billing is tied to deliverables, you are at your client’s mercy. Every time there is an extra round of revisions or a change to the project scope, your payment timeline will fluctuate.

One solution that I have found very successful is monthly billing. I create a timeline for the project and then divide the invoicing by the number of months. So if the project is three months long, the client will receive three equal invoices that are due upon receipt and not tied to any deliverables.

Now, you’re much better prepared to manage cash-flow because you can expect a certain amount of money every month. It also lowers the chances that you will get screwed if a client decides not to pay. If you don’t receive a payment, you stop work. This is so important. You’re not a bank. You don’t offer financing. What do you think would happen if you went to the grocery store and said, “Can I go ahead and take this gallon of milk and send you a check in about three weeks”?

I’ll tell you what would happen; you wouldn’t be getting any milk. With smaller, more frequent payments, your work-to-payment ratio is more in line and you’re chances of getting screwed are lower.

4. Be firm, but don’t be a jerk

Setting expectations is hard because we don’t want to sound like jerks. Contracts, invoices, and deposits are all difficult discussions because it sounds like we don’t trust our clients. Being nice is critical. You can set expectations in a way that feels cold and impersonal, or warm and inviting. It’s up to how you deliver it.

Never compromise your values, but don’t be a jerk either. I once had a client who was haggling with me on the price of a project addition. It was a very small thing, but they were trying to get my estimate down by countering with a lower amount.

I called the client and explained that my estimate wasn’t negotiable, but that I valued and cared about them as a customer, so I would do this one for free.

If I had accepted the lower amount, I would have sent the message that my price is arbitrary and that I didn’t really believe in my value. Instead, the client walked away with an immense amount of trust in me. They knew I took my business seriously, but I also really wanted them to succeed. The next time, they didn’t haggle. They trusted me and knew I had their best interest at heart.

Conclusion

Cash-flow management is foundational to the success of your business. The problem with a foundation is that if it’s weak, the whole house can collapse. Build a solid foundation by properly setting your client’s expectations, billing in smaller more frequent chunks and being nice. These steps will go a long way.

For even more tips on better cash-flow, check out this article by Allan Branch.

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