delay payment and never got response

sw-nw

I started to offer my own service last summer. Apart from hard to find customers, i felt difficult to have payment, for example, one kept delaying to give me a cheque, another didn't answer my phone even i was not asking for payment, plus they never replied to my emails. Obvious, it's not everyone like that.

I wouldn't spend time on asking for payment, but I wonder if it is a sort of culture for small business owners and self-employed persons, or just I didn't find right customers. My service is about web design.

motorguy

sw-nw wrote: »

I started to offer my own service last summer. Apart from hard to find customers, i felt difficult to have payment, for example, one kept delaying to give me a cheque, another didn't answer my phone even i was not asking for payment, plus they never replied to my emails. Obvious, it's not everyone like that.

I wouldn't spend time on asking for payment, but I wonder if it is a sort of culture for small business owners and self-employed persons, or just I didn't find right customers. My service is about web design.

Very common for small businesses to face this.

A friend of mine is in web / bespoke system design, and he would build in a system 'crash; to happen approx 2 months after the system went in. If he was paid on time, then he would remove the code, if he wasnt he'd let the system fail.

When the phone call inevitably came from the customer, he said he couldnt come out as they hadnt paid their bill, to which the response was always 'oh, that check is sitting here for you, sure you can pick it up when you're here'...

Pennywise

Not limited to small businesses. Large businesses and individuals also try to avoid paying their bills. It's a fact of life.

You have to organise your business systems to deal with it. I.e. get a proportion of your fee upfront, get a standing order for regular payments, etc. Send invoices on time, chase regularly.

Never give a customer any reason not to pay. Make sure your invoices are right and in accordance with the agreed price/scope of work. Raise a separate additional invoice for any extras - that way even if they dispute the extras, they've no reason not to pay the original bill for the original agreed fee.

At the end of the day, it is human nature (sadly) for people to take advantage of any weakness they see in you, so make sure that you have no weaknesses in your invoicing and debt collection systems.

sw-nw

Thanks for reply,
Would be easier to have payment from individuals (e.g. working person), as business owners have more bills to pay, they may decide to pay one than another. On the other hand, website design is to design website for business owner to make money from individuals, except I can do my own website for individuals.

Mistral001

It depends on the business sector really. If it is not a firm that you work with on a regular basis then it is likely that you set the terms for payment eg. 30 days.

If they are slow payers either they have no money or they are not keen on doing buisness with you again... but often they are just following standard practice for their particular business sector. For instance in many sectors getting paid at the end of the month AFTER the 30 days is standard procedure so that could mean nearly two months after the date of the invoice.

In general when getting paid you have to be persistant and patient and do not threaten legal action unless you WILL use it if required.