If you agreed to do a project for a client, do you have to do it? Even if they don’t pay you, even if they don’t respond to your emails, even if you don’t like them?
No! And that’s what we’re talking about today!
YES, it’s true: you CAN stop work on a project if a client hasn’t paid you.
There was a time when I struggled to know how to handle non-payment with clients.
When we sign on to do the work, and especially when we’ve done a substantial part of the work we agreed to, it’s very easy to get caught up in the sunk cost fallacy of “but I have so much time and energy invested in this, I should finish it” … even if the client hasn’t paid.
I talked about this a bit with my Contracts Series, back in Episodes 32 through 36, but recently, I dealt with a client issue that made me want to revisit this topic.
The truth is, when your client hasn’t paid you as agreed, that means that you really should stop work on the project until the account is in good standing again. But that doesn’t often happen, and that’s because contracts don’t normally address what to do in that situation. Contracts normally envision an issue with payment at the END of a project, but rarely do they anticipate what would happen if a client didn’t pay halfway through.
And that’s where I come in.
Most creatives continue doing the work they agreed to, even when a client isn’t holding up their end of the bargain.
But when you have a clear client contract that addresses all the little things that could go wrong (like nonpayment in the middle of the project), then you’ll have confidence in your contract and you’ll feel courageous in enforcing it and protecting yourself.
You don’t need to keep working when you’re not getting paid. And you don’t have to feel badly about that, either – it’s all part of the deal.
The problem with nonpayment isn’t that the client’s not paying. The problem with nonpayment is we believe we should still do the work, especially when the client says things like, “oh the check is in the mail” or “I sent that off to so-and-so for payment, it should be there this week, can we still see the mockups?”
The problem when clients still expect work without paying timely, is that we care. I know that sounds harsh. I don’t mean to say that I don’t want you to CARE. Of course I do. I want you to care.
The problem with caring is that if your contract doesn’t list NON-monetary consequences for nonpayment (like stopping work, etc.), and if your contract only focuses on the monetary consequences (like late fees, etc.), then you’re opening yourself up to trouble. Because if they haven’t paid you timely, they don’t care about the late fees. They know they’re going to owe them – or they can bully you later on to drop those fees by expressing dissatisfaction with the deliverable. If they don’t have the money when it’s owed, the likelihood that they’re going to have the money later and be able to pay you in full and catch up is slim.
A lot of creatives feel so invested in the work that they feel guilty and ashamed and bewildered about what to do when a client doesn’t pay properly. And that’s not even to say anything of anger and frustration.
When creatives like us continue doing the work we agreed to, even when a client isn’t holding up their end of the bargain, it’s often because we feel a moral obligation to do so. But moral obligations don’t pay the bills. Clients paying their invoices do.
Stop working when you haven’t been paid. Start clarifying the consequences of what happens if you don’t get paid – monetarily and non-monetarily.
So what does this look like in practice?
So, What Would Sheila Say?®
🎧 LISTEN HERE FOR MY ADVICE! 🎧
We’re going to talk about this in the Contracts Clinic and Crash Course in September. If you’re not on the waitlist yet for early access and reduced pricing, the link is in the show notes.
So … Yes. I’ve dealt with it before and so have my clients.
That’s often why clients come to me in the first place. Because some client didn’t pay timely or they were trying NOT to pay something in the future, and they got stuck.
It’s hard to know what to do, but you know the strongest argument you have to stop work when a client doesn’t pay you?
Your contract.
At the end of the day, society wants us to keep our clients happy. And while I’m not discounting that or saying we shouldn’t, I want to make sure that you’re not hurting yourself while you’re keeping them happy.
- You don’t have to prove you’re a good professional – we know you are.
- You don’t have to avoid confrontation with a client – conflict is healthy, because it means you’re sticking up for yourself, setting boundaries, and being clear about expectations.
- You don’t have to hold onto clients who aren’t good for you anymore or who don’t pay you properly – you’re worth way more than that.
At the end of the day, I want you to be HAPPY first, and make your clients happy second.
You deserve to do what’s right for you, too. You don’t have to play the game of who’s right and who’s wrong. It’s just facts.
It is what it is.
They don’t pay. They don’t get services. It can really be that simple. It’s like no shirt, no shoes, no service. Same difference. We have standards.
So, chances are some of this resonated with you if you’re still listening this far. Just know that you have much more power than you might think you do. It’s time to wield it to protect yourself.
Go take the quiz, which will outline your next best step to take with clients. Then, get on the waitlist for the contracts course. If you don’t have a contract, my goal by the end of those 8 weeks is for you to have a good first starter contract that you can use and continue to tweak as you go. And if you do already have a contract, this is your chance to review it from a 30,000 foot lens and to update it and correct it to make it custom to you and your needs.
Next Steps
- Free Interactive Guide: “12 Simple Tweaks to a Clearer Client Contract”
- Scripts for your Out of Office / Auto-Responder when you need more time
- Get on the Waitlist for the 8-Week Contracts Course!
>>>
Hi! I’m Sheila, your guide to a Joyful and Thriving™ creative life! I have lots of titles: attorney, social worker, coach, consultant, keynote speaker, educator. And while I’m proud of those titles, I am a human first and a title second – just like you. I want to help you reset expectations, set boundaries, and make aligned decisions, so you can streamline and focus your energy on the people, projects, and pay that actually matter to you.
Instagram: @sheilamwilkinson | LinkedIn
Rate this podcast/episode on Apple Podcasts, or leave feedback here, and be sure to leave me a voice note with a question for me to answer in a future episode!
>>>