“My client hasn’t paid me and I don’t know what to do”.
A horrible situation to be in, and a phrase we unfortunately far too often. Mostly all of us have had to deal with it, and it’s quite frankly, awful.
There is no glaringly obvious solution that will make them pay up straight away – it’s just not going to happen!
But there are certain things you should be avoiding like the plague.
Here are 3 ways to ensure you definitely WON’T get paid by your client:
- DON’T have them sign a contract. This makes it super difficult for you to take any formal action if a client decides to ghost and not pay you
- DON’T have a process in place to deal with late payments. If you just go with the flow and deal with this willy nilly, it’s going to cause a bunch of problems for you. Create a streamlined, strong late payment / debt collection process that suits you and your business (find out more in our previous blog here)
- DO let clients take the absolute mickey out of you, by walking all over you and breaking down boundaries you’ve set up. Not only is this a one way ticket to stress and burnout city, it sets a precedent for how other clients will treat you too. Create strong, stringent boundaries with your clients, especially when it comes to payment
Turn these into opposites, and what do you get? A higher chance of being paid by your clients! Because at the end of the day we need to get paid to continue to grow and scale our thriving, flourishing businesses.
Having the systems in place to deal with this makes all the difference. It means you have the backing to take things further if necessary! It’s all about creating that legal safety net for yourself to fall back on.
