You're checking your calendar, its 3 weeks past due. You pick up the phone and call the client and get voicemail. You leave a message, the sort where you hope to sound firm and threatening, but not enough that you damage the fragile ecosystem that is the firm/client relationship. Another week goes by and no response, so you make another call; leave another message -- but this time around you're less concerned about conserving the enivornment and you throw in the "legal help". Another week goes by ... now what?

The unfortunate side of a small firm, sole proprieter or company of one is the issue of payment and cash flow. Feast and famine is the rule more than the exception. The balance of making clients happy and fostering good relationships often can make it difficult for a company to stand firm when it comes to delenquint payments. Our clients are our family and we'll generally tolerate things to keep a balance. But like any family relationship, setting boundries will help both parties involved and keep dysfunction at bay (temporarily).

I've recently had my first experience with having to set that boundry, and it wasn't easy. So, here's the process and steps that I went through in determining it was time to bring in an "outside" party to help facilitate me getting paid and the client to understand that I needed to be paid.

Here are 7 (unofficial) rules in getting paid when a client won't pay.

• 1) Its been awhile. As a sole proprietor you get accustomed to having lags in payment and you get to know the general payment schedule of your clients - some are within a few weeks of invoice, some are exactly 30 days, some are completely erradic (until you follow up with a phone call and they send out that check). In this case, it had been 3 months and I figured, I need to follow up.


• 2) Is it worth it? For me I was owed several thousand dollars, so it was a large enough invoice for me to pursue severing all ties with this client. This part is important as you must determine if the amount owed to you is enough to lose that clients future business.


• 3) No response. So you follow up with a phone call or email (I prefer phone call, its more personal and shows that you are taking control of the situation, not sitting back in the comfort of a keyboard) and a week goes by and you hear nothing. Its time to call again. Regularly until you get a response. I called once a week and left a voice mail message with "account payable".


• 4) This is ridiculous. So now its been over a month and you have gotten nothing but the run around. Its time to think seriously about that "outside" party. Leave a new message, more firm and informing the client that if they do not respond within 24 hours of your phone that you will be contacting dramatic music a collection agency.


• 5) 24 come and gone So that 24 hour window has come and gone, now its time to do what you said you'd do (imagine that ... following through with a threat ... novel idea, I know). First ask any of your friends if they have ever used a local collection agency; if not, just get out the phonebook and look for something that looks professional (look for certifications, law degrees, etc).


• 6) The ball is rolling. You'll have to answer a few questions and provide some information for the collection agency -- client name, address, phone, contacts the amount you're owed, the process you followed in trying to collect and amount of time overdue. Usually the collection agency will follow their own procedures - first a phone call, then the legal "heavys". Ultimately, their goal is to get you your money - and for them to get a percentage. In my case, the percentage grew as the process went on (from 10% to 20%).


• 7) Say goodbye. Now that you've actually followed through with your threats and (may have) had to go into legal action to get paid, you can be assured that your relationship with the client is effectively over - severed, doomed, kaput (for some reason, even with dilgent warnings, people tend not to like it when you actually follow through with your word). But you have your payment and can now feed your family.

Fortunately I had only gotten as far as filing out the "official" paperwork from the collection agency when the client finally decided to pay me (in installments) but I knew that I was ready to go down the road of looking out for myself and not become the doormat. It doesn't matter if you're just one person, you're valuable, and your work is valuable, don't let the fear of the (unknown) future keep you from doing what is right.