Comment by JohnFen

I agree with a couple of the other comments here. If I'm doing fixed-price work, I require half of it paid up front, and the other half paid at the time of final delivery and acceptance. If I'm doing time-based work, I require the prepayment of a reasonable amount of that time up front.

It's the best way I've found to reduce the risk of clients stealing from me through non-payment. If they've already paid a significant portion, they're more likely to pay the rest. And even if they don't, at least I got something.

And don't be shy about using the small claims courts if the dollar amount is low enough to allow it. You don't even have to hire an attorney to do that (although you should have an attorney as a matter of good business practice anyway).