Cam - cool. Just making sure ;) And another few thoughts.
I don't know about the rest of you that run your own small business (not those that do it on the side, I mean those that work 100% for yourself) ... but I know times are hard right now for a lot of people. And I can tell you this: I'd much rather work for clients that pay on time than ones that don't no matter how much "good will" you are willing to spread. I do my fair share of work for "free", and those people know that as far as the totem pole goes, they aren't at the top. They understand that bills need to be paid, food has to be be bought and utilities kept turned on, savings accounts funded. So when they have something needing to be done, it might take a little while, and they understand... so that's all good. I am lucky that 90% of my client base pays their bills on time or at least within 60 days. I haven't had to use any strong arm tactics, ever. But I know if I *have to* I can and will. I understand you can be lenient, and you can be compassionate and you can work with some people. If you have a long history with them, and your gut says you aren't going to get screwed in the long run, then by all means, pour on the understanding and the honey. Just REMEMBER! All the time you spend working with that client counts. Keep track of it. At the end of a few months - add it up. Where's your hourly rate at? How much money could you of made if you had spent that time on a paying project? Will you recoup all that time? When do you call it quits? Did you turn away a paying client because you had a week long commitment to work with the client that can't pay right now? When do you cut your losses? Look. Ultimately, unless you are a trust fund baby or have millions in the bank and don't have to worry about saving for retirement, we're here to run a business and make money. You cannot make money by being soft in collections. Bottom line. IRS doesnt care about your non-paying customers. They aren't going to pour on any honey. A business is a business and still needs to be treated as such. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;207172674;29440083;f Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:288180 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
