Thinking about how I used to be too nice about overdue accounts
I remember starting out and just sending bills without any follow-up plan... if someone didn't pay, I'd shrug and figure they'd get to it eventually. It meant some payments took months, and I was always short on cash for supplies. After a really slow season, I decided to stop that and put a late fee rule in my terms. Now, I send a polite reminder email a week after the due date, and add a fee if it's over 30 days late. The first client I charged the fee to actually apologized and paid the same day... my income is way more steady now. I don't have to play the guessing game with my budget anymore.