I usually start with a specification of your requirements. In an ideal world this would give enough information to be able to quote you for the work but in practice there  will usually need to be some questions and answers.

I then issue a fixed price quotation. This will define what it is that I will develop for you, what technical environment I expect to be developing for, what the costs and timescales will be etc. Once you have accepted the quote I'll usually have a further discussion with you following which I will produce an initial system design. I then walk through this with you to ensure that I've correctly understood the relationships between all of the different data entities and also that we agree on the way the system will function.

The next delivery will be a preliminary version. This will not be fully functional but will include a basic framework allowing you to fire up your application and to start seeing what it will look like. This will be followed by regular updates, each filling out more and more of the application.

This iterative approach, which is a variant of the DSDM (Dynamic Systems Development Method) methodology has many advantages. It lets you see the application as it is developing, allows you to influence the design, enables me to correct any misunderstandings at an early stage, lets you check that I am keeping to the agreed timescale. Ultimately it ensures that the application I deliver to you is the same or better than the one you were originally expecting!

I then deliver to you the feature complete version after which you undertake your final acceptance testing before the application 'goes live' (i.e. starts to be used for real work). Inevitably some teething issues may occur in the first few weeks - which is why I include free support for the first month!

See this example of a simple DVD / Video Hire system I created