Pro tip: chasing a $350 payment for 6 weeks nearly broke my business flow.

Last month I let a client string me along on a small design invoice and it messed up my whole cash cycle, so now I require 50% upfront on every project under $1,000 - has anyone else had to get that hard about deposits to stay afloat?

3 comments

3 Comments

michael80317d ago

Isn't it weird how people treat small amounts differently than big ones? I noticed that the smaller the payment, the more likely someone is to drag their feet on paying it. Like a $350 invoice feels "not worth fighting over" to them so they just push it aside until they absolutely have to deal with it. That same person would never ignore a $5,000 invoice for six weeks. You're smart to get that 50% up front because it forces them to treat the project with some basic respect from the start. It changes the whole dynamic when they already have skin in the game.

abbyf7917d ago

Honestly, people just hate losing money more than they hate paying it.

lisas7817d ago

That whole "skin in the game" thing is real. I had a client once who paid me $200 upfront for a logo (super small project) and then ghosted me for three weeks, so I just stopped working on it. When they finally came back all frantic, I had to remind them they already paid me part of it so technically I still owed them a finished file (which felt weirdly uncomfortable, like I was holding their money hostage). It makes me wonder if maybe 100% upfront on tiny jobs is the way to go, even if it scares some people off. My neighbor does pet portraits and she charges full price before she even picks up a brush, and somehow her clients are way more chill than mine ever were.