In two short weeks, I will encounter a milestone, of sorts, not seen in 21 years of independent business: an invoice that is one year past due.
In most cases like this, you’d write off that invoice as something that never will get paid. Half of me is resigned to that fate. Yet the other half has this silly belief that because the debtor is a fellow independent, somehow, even one year later, I will be paid.
We’ve corresponded about it a couple of times over the (almost) year. Oh, no, she hadn’t forgotten. Oh, the invoice got lost in a move; could I resend it? Oh, yes, the cheque would be in the mail that very week. I just sent one last note with a copy of the invoice marked “past due,” expressing the faint hope that it might get paid before the one-year mark.
The money isn’t a lot, but that’s not the point. What is important is an independent relies on his or her reputation, and every day, that reputation is affected by the assumptions and judgments people make about us based on how we act. It doesn’t matter whether we are doing something for free or for payment, as a volunteer or as a paid employee. People are paying attention. Do we do what we say we will? Do we respond immediately, eventually or not at all? Are we trustworthy, honest, organized, efficient?
How we act doesn’t just affect what people think of us; it also affects how willing people will be to recommend us to others. If we can never meet a deadline or we don’t update clients when we run into problems, they’ll notice, and they’ll think twice about giving our names to someone else. Frankly, they’ll also think twice about hiring us again. So that’s something independents need to watch carefully.
In this case, maybe the debtor was waiting to get paid herself before paying me; that’s not how I work, but I’ll throw that out there as a possibility. If so, the missing piece was keeping me posted on her attempts to get paid, or a message that she was writing the whole thing off and her apologies for bringing me in. Pretty simple communications between communicators, which did not happen. That tells me something.
Have you had an experience like this? How did it end? What did it tell you?
Postscript: I was eventually paid.
(More about the importance of referrals to independents.)
Image credit: Kittikun Atsawintarangkul / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Very thoughtful post, Sue. I agree completely. Our greatest asset is our reputation. So many times I have met people while working on a project or volunteering on a committee, and I think: “This is the kind of person I could bring on board for a project or event.” And then there is the odd time where you work with someone who does not follow through, who forgets to do things, and who is not true to his word… The strange part is that some of these folks wonder why no one is hiring them. Hmmm.
Hi Sue,
Not paying your subs is a huge reputational red flag. I try to pay people as quickly as possible. If it’s a big project and it’s dependent on my getting paid, then I will give my partners a heads up on the payment schedule. (Use of the term “partners” here is deliberate, because I think of anyone working on a project with me as a partner–not some 2nd class citizen I can ignore at will.)
You have more patience than me. I’d probably have filed a suit in small claims court to recover the funds. As you said, it’s not about the dollars, it’s about the principle of it. I want it clear that I’m not the person you can’t pay.
Thanks for commenting, ladies! The latest news: the cheque is in the mail…
When I have hired sub-contractors, I have always paid them regardless of when I have been paid. If it is a big job then you negotiate that with subs upfront, not after the fact. Not paying after a year? That’s just not on.
Martha, thanks for commenting. That’s what I do, too. After all, if I trust people enough to subcontract to them, I generally want to work with them again!