My friend Juan is a superb designer – mainly Flash-based websites. Way back in the mists of time I gave him his first design studio job. Now he is self employed and his talent means he can charge a premium and work on interesting projects.
But he is terrible at getting paid. Sometimes his invoices are 4 or even 6 months past due before he chases payment. He’s not interested in business administration because he is focussed on doing good work for his clients. I pointed him towards bytestart - one of my favourite SME websites – for some practical tips on getting the cash in. I also found a helpful video explaining credit control on the HSBC advice website.
Since Juan is based in Bristol, he could check out the excellent factsheet on debt recovery that BRAVE, the Bristol-based enterprise agency, has on its new information zone.
When I first worked for myself I had a short client list, and luckily they paid on time (sort of). But even when I followed all the best advice, acted firmly and fairly when chasing payment, some customers would hang on to my money. That’s when I sent the boys round.
