Getting paid

[glorybound]

Good for you Bobby!! but if you want to run your business full time it's always good to have a good Accountant, Attorney and a Hit man and maybe a Partner.

Are you offering

[flino2004]

depending what you want a hitman or a partner? I know people who know people who know people.

[Infrared digital]

I would write them a polite email saying that their delay in paying you meant that they were in breach of your copyright when they published the renders in the press without paying you. It wouldn't hurt to keep them up to speed.

[glorybound]

I did get a call Friday, telling me they are mailing out a check, so we'll see. I need to work on a new contract. Does anybody have any good contract references for our type of work? I was using the asai's

I would write them a polite email saying that their delay in paying you meant that they were in breach of your copyright when they published the renders in the press without paying you. It wouldn't hurt to keep them up to speed.

[MoonDoggie]

As a side note, I'm pretty sure my computer at max load, running for an hour, would cost over $45.

PS. Glad you finally are getting paid Bobby.

[Sawyer]

Now my experience was that online everyone talks about contracts and they are important. But really its just part of what is needed to get paid. Most important is to go over the contract with your contact. I doubt anyone really reads your contract. All a contract will do is be a vehicle for covering your work if there is confusion after the project is done. Don't think that just because you have a contract it will be a magic pill that will make it so you never get screwed over. If you want to work with a company extensively talk with their billing department. I have found no matter what time frame I put for my bills I got paid when they do billing not when I told them to pay me. Find out when the company does billing and make sure if its every 2 weeks to never miss that - or if its every month ask the head of billing how to get paid sooner. Dont rely on a number on your invoice to even be noticed. I think some places are totally fine with the needs of a small office and understand a bill of $3k that goes unpaid is huge for a small guy. Other place I worked with well there was nothing I could do - they paid on their schedule and I could beg but I got paid when they opened their check books.

[glorybound]

When I hear stories about people not getting paid, most had contracts, but the dollar amount owed was never enough to justify a law suite. A contract might make you look like you have your stuff together, and that might be enough reasons to have one, but it will not guarantee payment. I think a scope is more important. A scope, in a sense is a contract, but it'll also make sure all parties know what they are getting. The project that inspired this post started off bad. It was a first time client, they had a short deadline, and the project would have been due before I had time to do my due diligence. I had 10 days to complete it and all I had was 4 elevations and a floor plan. I hit the ground running.. I got the site plan 8 days into the project, and the building footprint didn't fit on the site plan, so I had to do a lot of assumptions. I was expecting an average site, with an average amount of landscape, but it was far from average. Anyway, a scope narrative, would have place everything on the table.

Anyway... lesson learned.

[glorybound]

can you quantify this? Are you talking wear-and-tear?

As a side note, I'm pretty sure my computer at max load, running for an hour, would cost over $45.

PS. Glad you finally are getting paid Bobby.

[glorybound]

I would write them a polite email saying that their delay in paying you meant that they were in breach of your copyright when they published the renders in the press without paying you. It wouldn't hurt to keep them up to speed.

I like this .... they are paying for one job, but they are fussing about this one. The owner wants to talk on the phone, which I am assuming to negotiate final payment, so I can use this as part of my defense. We are planning a phone conversation today. Is using something without full payment implied, or does it have to be agreed upon first?

[Sawyer]

Well..... Negotiating a contract AFTER the work has been done... Not a good sign. They already have the work from you.

Your work added its value for the project - they were able to publish your work and make their deadline. Personally almost all of the work I do is due for a presentation of some sort 1-2 days after I get the image done, if I tried to hold up the process and not allow publication until after I got paid my work would have much less value to the firm. Now that only works if I trust the client to pay me. Otherwise not quite sure I could ever get anything done and not sure if I would ever have gotten used.

[glorybound]

Their perspective is I didn't meet the deadline, but I didn't meet it because they kept dropping things on me, up until that morning. Should I negotiate final payment, or stand firm? I think, if I play my cards righ,t it can eventually be a good relationship.

[Sawyer]

My policy is 1 client is better than 0.

[glorybound]

no clients are better than a bad client

[MoonDoggie]

can you quantify this? Are you talking wear-and-tear?

Not actually, but between the electricity use, my apartment getting really hot, and anything resembling a normal hourly for work, it's definitely over $45 .

[glorybound]

I think I will start charging more, and for changes, which I usually don't do.