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The sales guy in Austin swore 30 day terms would kill my cash flow and he was right
Back in March I was setting up my new contract template for a design shop and a sales guy I met at a meetup in Austin said flat out that 30 day net terms would wreck me. He pushed hard for 50% upfront on every project no matter the size, and I thought that felt pushy for small clients. So I kept 30 day net and took my lumps. Last quarter I had $9,400 sitting unpaid across three clients, with one invoice hitting 47 days before it cleared, and my whole month of June was me sending reminder emails instead of doing actual billable work. Switched to 50% upfront in July and I've had zero late payments since, though two clients did grumble about it before signing anyway. Curious if anyone here has found a middle ground that keeps cash moving without scaring off the smaller accounts.
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shane1701h ago
Did the Austin guy at least buy you a beer before he told you he was right? Funny how the pushy advice always turns out to be the free advice that saves your butt later. You basically paid $9,400 in tuition to learn what he told you at a meetup for the price of a handshake. For the middle ground, maybe try a smaller upfront chunk on tiny projects, like 25 or 30 percent, and save the full half for the bigger ones. The grumbling clients will grumble either way, but at least you get to bill them while they do it.
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