So this person / startup contacted me to consult on development of their new product, a sort of agricultural drone. They found my #floss work on high-speed cameras and optical flow, and want my help.
Their product and the end-game of a product I'm developing (drone shepherd which protects grazing animals from predators) uses similar technology. So the work would have to be done by me in the end, a few years down the line. I told them I could help out, on the premise that all code I produce is free software.
The thing is, in terms of money... I have no money. I also have more pressing matters at hand, and a lot of features to develop and services to provide for products I already offer.
The company asking me also has no money, for now.
A person has to eat, and I do run a flosshw consultancy, so this is exactly the kind of thing I should take payment to do.
How should I bring up the matter of compensation / providing a livelihood for myself while doing the work?