When you run a business, you are bound to meet clients or customers who can be really nice and some who can be on the other end of nice, which is nasty. There are those who delay the payment for the longest time and worse still, some do not pay up when all the work is done. This can cause a ripple effect and if you are a company which hires freelancers or external workers on project basis, then their payment can be delayed too. Some companies might pay their workers first before receiving final payment from the client, some might not so it depends on the company itself.
Recently we encountered a customer who does not want to pay up for an event we organised for them which happens to be their private party and also in conjunction with the closing of a certain long standing business place in Penang, which we do not want to mention specifically here. Some people have claimed that bigger companies will take longer to pay but we have done some reading and based on our experience, it is not necessarily true. We have dealt with some international organisations which can be found worldwide and they pay promptly; there were some corporate companies which took slightly longer to pay due to their financial hub being situated in another country like the United States of America.
No one likes to chase for payment owed, it is unnecessarily tiring. So, what are the steps to take when you are faced in a situation like this ? Before you accept a customer’s job, always take a deposit or if possible, get the payment in full. This was also mentioned in an article by the business website, business.com where they say “One common solution a lot of freelancers and business owners use to ensure they get paid in full and on time is to require an upfront deposit from customers“. It would also be wise to ensure that you have a contract signed between the parties involved on the terms and conditions as well as what will be delivered by your company.
By the time you have delivered your service or product to the customer and they still pretend not to pay or come up with silly excuses not to pay you, then you will need to keep sending them reminders to pay up. It would be great if people honour agreements and make payments after they have enjoyed the service given to them or product they received. Let’s save each other’s time and cut down on the unnecessary reminders and chasing. Another good read on this issue can be seen in another article here.
Do you have any other ways to claim what was owed to your company ? Do tell us in the comment section on what you have gone through before and your steps taken to get your payment.
