Sorry to hear about your troubles. Unfortunately, this is what can
happen when you enter into a “gentleman’s agreement” with a friend of a
friend. A reputable software developer or firm will ask you to sign an
agreement specifically outlining what will be produced, when it will be
produced, what qualifies as success, and what you are required to pay by
what date. That gives both of you legal recourse in these sorts of
situations. You may want to look into your legal options at this point
as well, to see if you can recoup any of the capital. It is too bad
that a few (?) bad apples can spoil the barrel, but those cliches comes
from somewhere.
If you are interested, feel free to contact me via my website,
www.toplineconsulting.com. I can assist with either advice on how to
proceed or actually design/development work to get your application
completed.
Good Luck,
Nathan L.
As a small interjection, depending on which country you live in, a
gentleman’s agreement -is- as legally binding as a ‘proper’ contract.
Canada and Scotland are two that spring to mind. So, you maybe able to
recoup -some- losses if thats a worry, and your in the proper country.
Obviously IANAL and its not the proper way to work ‘professionally’
but… yes.
Sorry, we now return you to your regular broadcasting 
Regards
Stef
Hi, I agree with Nathan 100% and I tend to deal with people locally so
that
we can meet face-to-face for status information. Also, I tend to
partition
projects into smaller manageable pieces and have developers work on a
piece
at a time. This allows me to hire several developers to work on the
same
project. My magic number is usually two developers because I need to
perform development tasks as well plus management duties. Next, I don’t
pay
until I can verify that the code works per my requirements. I would
only
give a partial payment at the start of the project if you have
successfully
completed a development task for me in the past. Finally, I’m not
saying
that a firm is better or an individual is better but both has its
advantages
over the other and you should properly screen both in the hiring
process.
Peace,
-Conrad