Pay your freelancers...
Out of context: Reply #28
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- mathinc0
I'm currently in a situation where a client has owed me 4k for project that didn't turn out very successful, which definitely puts my client in a tough situation too. However, I was hired to simply assist a main developer. The project was unorganized from the beginning and when the project started to tank I worked around the clock, literally, to save the project. My invoice is now 3 months past due.
I haven't had a single problem with a client in over 3 years until this one. The trick I've found is that you NEED to get a large deposit upfront, unless you have history with the client and know that they're solid. I didn't in this case and it's bit me in the ass. This was a new client for me and initially I thought, because of what the client said, that I'd be working about 20 hours tops. This turned into a 70 hour invoice from one week of work.. so like I said, I literally worked around the clock with 3 consecutive nights of 2 hours of sleep.
So in essence, get a deposit so that the client is already committed to the project. If they refuse to give you a deposit, walk away.