I finally started putting payment milestones in my contracts after a chat with my brother

He told me about a job where the client vanished halfway through and he lost a lot of money. Now I break payments into chunks so I don't get left hanging.

4 comments

4 Comments

lisas781mo ago

My cousin Jake got burned the same way last year on a web design project. He did all the work upfront and the guy just stopped answering emails. Now I do a 50% deposit before I even start, then 25% at the halfway mark, and the final 25% before I hand over the finished files. It totally changes how clients act because they have money in the game at each step. It filters out the flaky ones right from the beginning. I would not work any other way now.

emeryo581mo ago

Ugh, I learned that the hard way too lol. Let a guy talk me into one big payment at the end for a whole house pack and move. Guess who spent two months chasing him for a check? Never again, man. Now my contract is basically a checklist of money before the truck even rolls.

dylan_ward1mo ago

Oof, that's rough. My buddy had a similar thing happen with his freelance photography. He agreed to shoot a whole wedding for one payment after delivering the photos. The couple ghosted him and he never got paid, like two grand just gone. Now he makes people pay half up front and half before he even edits the pictures. It's crazy how much a clear payment plan changes things.

michael_williams1mo ago

So what happens when a client just stops paying at a milestone? Do you halt all work immediately or give them some grace?