Hi, I'll get right into it. I typically make static and simple wordpress websites (between £400 and 800 ish). I've been doing this for a while now, and am very happy with it, but I recently closed a really promising deal. It's a 3k multivendor site. I'll be building it with dokan + elementor pro

I need help communicating the limitation of liability. I'll explain that I am building a wordpress website, following all the best security practices (wordfence premium, reputable host, regular backups, 2fa for admin, regular updates and testing, reputable plugins only, etc), but that ultimately there are still things out of my control. A million things could go wrong and they could end up costing money, but I can't help if an unexpected plugin break causes the website to go down or causes a hacker to intercept payment details, etc etc etc. Should I recommend them to get some kind of insurance to cover this? How exactly is this handled in formal contracts?

For example I could very well see that someone could somehow hack into somebody account who has a large sum sitting in their wallet, they could then issue a payout to different bank details and steal some money, or a million other ways this could go wrong. Am I overthinking this, or is it a genuine thing I need to bear in mind and protect myself from

Would really apprciate some advice as I've never done a project of this scale, or with the potential to go as wrong, as this one could. What if

Skip to end for tldr

Hi, I'll get right into it. I typically make static and simple wordpress websites (between £400 and 800 ish). I've been doing this for a while now, and am very happy with it, but I recently closed a really promising deal.

I've spoken to someone who's ready to pay the first deposit, and has given me a budget of around 4 thousand pounds. I think a fair price for something like this is somewhere in the 2-3k range. I did some digging, and think the best way to approach this is designing it as I do other websites (template based), and using the dokan plugin with the pro license to give the site the functionality it needs.

I'm putting together a proper scope of work agreement but honestly am not sure if I'm missing out on anything important. What if something creeps up and I get bitten for it, would very much appreciate some advice from those who are more experienced that myself.

Here are all the points I will cover.

- Milestone based payments - Distinct payments with distinct objectives, and clarify that paying for one milestones means approval of that work

- Explicitly mention that all changes or requirements be put in writing to avoid miscommunication

- What exactly I need from them to proceed and by when

- Scope of work, what exactly my role is and what I cannot do, but more on this below (also please let me know if I am missing anything else)

1. I need help communicating the following: Understanding wordpress limitations. I've communicated that a custom built website would cost him a lot more money, but that the best option for a new business is to save money and use something like dokan, and upgrade once it makes sense. I use elementor to build websites, so generally it is very customisable, but there will be certain bits that cannot be customised without additional charges. For example dokan's vendor dashboard seems like something that you cannot customse as freely as something like an elementor home page. The issue is that to actually show him what can and cannot be customised, I'd have to actually build the website first, which is exactly what he is paying me to do

2. I also need help communicating the limitation of liability. I'll explain that I am building a wordpress website, following all the best security practices (wordfence premium, reputable host, regular backups, 2fa for admin, regular updates and testing, reputable plugins only, etc), but that ultimately there are still things out of my control. A million things could go wrong and they could end up costing her money, but I can't help if an unexpected plugin break causes the website to go down or causes a hacker to intercept payment details, etc etc etc. Should I recommend them to get some kind of insurance to cover this? How exactly is this handled in formal contracts?

3. Lastly, I'll need to somehow explain that the monthly retainer I charge for this website could vary, and that I cannot quote what it will cost right now. As I build the site and figure out dokan for myself, and see the workflow, custom code, etc etc, I'll need to see how much headache mainteance will be and price accordingly. How is this handled?