SOMETIMES, YOU DON'T GET PAID!

When you work for yourself, part of the time you don't get paid.  Reluctance to part with money is a primal reality and some people don't pay.  

I sat in a meeting with a square-featured geologist who had done a great deal as a consulting oil and gas geologist.  We were in a hotel conference room in downtown Houston, Texas.  The man had spent years as a petroleum consultant and had sold prospects to oil companies that turned into oil fields that produced a lot of oil and gas.

There were some people, he worked for who didn't pay him when the time came.  Try as he might, he could not get his money and in several instances he gave up.  Those decisions not to press further for his pay, had diminished him.  He was discouraged for large parts of years.  From that moment, onward, I resolved to press on fairly for my money when my clients didn't pay me.

I recommend two steps to be paid when your client wants to keep his money.  The first step is to ask in writing with honest records that document your work and hours.  It is wise to have had a contract signed, that spells out the work, the pay advances and the final amount.  The second step occurs when the client will still not pay you.  Then, you bring that person into the light of the Law and file a small claim.  This will shake the client up and you will receive angry, often intimidating phone calls, emails and letters.  Ignore the harassment, don't get mad and stick to the simple nature of the pay issue: 

1.  Demonstrate that you did the work

2.  Indicate the value of the work and report any payments that your client made.

3.  Press on quietly and deliberately for your money.

Your future clients will search the court records and will vindicate you in their own minds and you will see business where you did not expect any.