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I finally saw a client write a check at a diner in Toledo and the waitress told me something I won't forget
I was meeting a guy about a late invoice at a diner in Toledo and the table next to us had a client paying a contractor in cash, counting out $2,300 in $100 bills right on the table. The waitress leaned over and said she sees it every week, folks paying for work done off the books so there's no paper trail. It hit me that if this contractor ever gets stiffed on the next job, he has zero proof the work happened. I have been chasing a $1,800 invoice for 6 weeks and my contract barely mentions late fees, so guess who has no real power here. Get your payment terms in writing before anyone picks up a tool, and make the late fee something you will actually enforce. What has worked for you when a client goes quiet after the work is done?
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coleman.hannah3d ago
Watched the same thing happen at a flea market last month, guy peeling bills off a roll for a guy who fixed his truck, no receipt, no nothing. It's the same story everywhere, cash jobs, handshake deals, and everyone feels like a genius until the work goes sideways. My neighbor paid a guy $900 cash to fix his fence and the guy ghosted him halfway through, and now he can't do a thing about it. Same energy as your Toledo diner. We all want to skip the paperwork because it feels like nagging a buddy, but the paper is the only thing standing between you and eating the cost.
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