Over my years as a freelance computer
consultant, I've heard many stories of workers who have difficulty
getting paid for their work. There can
be disagreements about whether a project has been completed, claims
of cash-flow problems or even, at the worst, simple fraud. Sometimes
companies or individuals can be slow to pay invoices or, when they
grudging pay, complain about the quality of your services. There are,
it seems, a myriad ways to not get paid for your work.
After talking with my peers about payment problems, it seems I have
had it easy. Where they might have experienced several issues with
payment, I might have had one. It seems that, often, payment issues
have more to do with how we do business, rather than any particular
type of client.
Over the years, I have found that part of the secret of getting paid
is to act like you expect to be paid. This might sound a bit odd,
but I have seen workers who are not confident in their work and
offer a
host of apologies and excuses, even when they are completing the
assigned task in a better than average fashion. They don't have
respect for
their own work, and this spills over, often unconsciously, to their
clients. This makes it easy for clients to request change after change
without additional payment. These clients will often let invoices
sit unpaid for weeks or months, considering others more worthy
of payment.
In the worst cases, it may take threats of legal action or more to
get paid.
If you want to get paid, reliably, for your work, there are a few
guidelines that you need to follow.
•
State your rate, confidently, at the beginning of the relationship
Make sure that your clients know your rates and payment requirement
before performing any work. Nothing is worse that having a client
question your rate after you have already performed significant
work. You may
never see the payment for that work, even if the client has benefited
significantly.
Don't apologize for your rates, either. There will always be those
who cannot afford your rate, especially as you gain experience. In
many cases, the only resource you have to sell is your time and your
knowledge. Discounting your rate either shows a lack of confidence
in your own work or a belief that you have mis-priced your work.
•
Carefully specify projects, deliverables, change order processes and
payment plans
If you are working on a long-term project, your project plan must
contain a detailed account of deliverables, and the payments associated
with
those deliverables. Payments should be on-going, at regular intervals.
A detailed change-order process should be in place to allow changes
as the project develops, but also provide payment plans for this
additional work.
It might sound like an enormous amount of work, but if you launch
a project without carefully specifying your rates, payments and
change
order process, you are almost guaranteed to lose money. You are setting
yourself up for disagreements over the original specification, the
change orders and even whether the project is complete in everyone's
mind.
• Don't extend credit until a relationship
is established
In my own business, I ask for payment at the end of each service
call, either by check or cash. As I develop a relationship with
the client,
especially in small business environment, I might eventually move
them to a monthly statement. I only do this, though, once they
have established
the ability, and desire, to pay. To be honest, since I always apply
the 2 previous guidelines in all my work, this is usually not an
issue. Those clients who show any issues with payment are quickly
abandoned.
There is no reason you should have to deal with payment issues. It
only saps the strength of your business and damages your own confidence
in your work.
The final truth is, payment problems in our businesses are usually
of our own making. If we don't price our services correctly, or don't
have confidence that our rates are fair and appropriate, we send
out subtle signals that allow less than scrupulous clients to take
advantage.
Specify your larger projects so that payments and change orders limit
opportunities for disagreement. These few simple guidelines can help
you build your business and your career by showing your clients that
you expect to be paid for your good work -- something any worker
has a right to expect.
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