I gave up here:
> I must admit that I’ve also never worked with a contract and that I don’t have any other form of terms and conditions for clients to sign.
I'm not a freelancer, but this sounds pretty unprofessional to me.
> I must admit that I’ve also never worked with a contract and that I don’t have any other form of terms and conditions for clients to sign.
I'm not a freelancer, but this sounds pretty unprofessional to me.
A job description though, that both parties know what to expect from each other. (When the work is done and payment is due) can be done in an email.
In terms of getting paid, knowing which clients and projects to avoid, controlling scope creep, setting expectations and structuring work to get paid as you go are more important in my opinion. Once you're at the stage of pointing to contract terms the project is probably on rocky territory already where your client isn't going to be happy at the end of it.
Get a contract as well but I keep reading people talking about getting "air tight contracts" as if they're the most important part of getting paid.
Contracts are not about honesty. They are a way to avoid having to negotiate how to act when predictable problems occur by setting the conditions (i.e., what to do when something happens) on paper.
If a project stays permanently on its happy path then you don't need safeguard clauses, but often it doesn't and having to decide how to proceed after problems occur is not easy or enjoyable for any part, because someone's ideal solution may not be aligned with someone else's best interests.