Comment by brudgers

Some lessons I learned the hard way:

0. Getting paid is your job. Getting paid is more important than doing the work.

1. Pick better clients. Good clients don't have a problem with paying (and great clients are good clients who have regular work).

2. Be blunt about money. Upfront. Require a retainer as part of your contract. You will avoid clients who never intend to pay.

3. You are not a bank. Your retainer is to be applied against final invoice. You owe the client work. They don't owe you money. If a client says they don't have the money, there's no point in doing the work.

4. People who don't intend to pay will almost always tell you they don't intend to pay before you start the work...maybe a "joke" about not paying or a comment "you are charging too much." It lets them rationalize you had it coming because they gave you a warning. Those aren't jokes or complaints. They are statements of intent.

5. If someone's budget does not match their scope, reduce the scope not your fee. Your job is to solve the problems the client is paying you to solve. It is impossible to be paid for solving the problem of paying you less.

6. When someone doesn't pay, stop working. When they owe you money, don't deliver deliverables.

7. Established business relationships with regular clients, can change some of this...the client you've worked with for years can actually be joking about money because you two have a track record.

Good luck.