(no subject)

[nonelvis]

If you run a services business, are thinking of running a services business, or freelance, you should watch this. My business has been fortunate enough that we've never had to sue anyone for payment, but have we had problems getting paid? Oh yes, and any small business owner will tell you the same thing. What saves our asses? The contracts we have people sign. It's not about screwing anyone; it's about setting the terms under which we deliver services and get paid, and making sure our interests, as well as the client's, are protected.

Comments

[evilawyer]

Stumbled insomniacally over here from rivereffinsong, just so you know.

Can't watch the video now since I don't have sufficiently fast access at home, but just want to throw in my two cents that --- Ex-attorney here. Solo practitioner, which is where the problem probably lay. Retired now and happy for it. But --- did I have trouble getting paid as a sole practitioner? Yup. And did stupid assbites tell me things like "Thanks for the great job, but you're a lawyer. You're rich. You don''t need my money." Oh, yeah. Even with a contract. The funniest thing? I have a new business now, one that isn't practicing law but focuses on what I like to do, and do my mostly incredibly-low-income elderly customers and their caregiver family members pay me (okay, yeah, scaled to their incomes, and sometimes it takes the form of lunch, but it's still money out of pocket)? Yes. And they are happy to do it. But will I ever get stiffed? You betcha, but I'm going to feel better about it because no one assumes I've got money coming out my ears because I went way into debt to go to law school.

I'm working on not being bitter about this.

Sorry about that. Sometimes, I can't hold it back.

And good luck to you with future accounts receivable. May they never age past 30 days.

[nonelvis]

My father is a bankruptcy attorney who's been a sole practitioner most of my life, so what you're saying about how your former clients treated you sounds very familiar. (In his case, things are compounded because his clients are filing bankruptcy in the first place, though he generally doesn't handle small personal bankruptcy cases that would be impossible to collect from.)

Running a business means taking the risk people aren't going to pay. It sucks, but there it is. If you're lucky, everyone pays and you get to control your life and do something you love; it sounds like you're getting there yourself, and I wish you the best of luck doing it. Even with the occasional payment hiccup, I don't think I'd go back to working for someone else unless I absolutely had to.