If you’re always waiting for money to hit your account, your business is thirsty as fuck. Cash flow is king, doesn’t matter if you’re freelance, running a tiny shop, or just starting out. If you don’t nail payment terms, you’ll always be scrambling instead of scaling.
Here’s the deal: you need to negotiate payment terms before you ever do the work. Don’t just accept the first offer, most people do, and then spend weeks chasing money. Instead, ask for what helps keep your cash flow alive. For example, propose a 50 percent upfront deposit and the rest on delivery.
If that’s too much, try for payment within seven days instead of the usual thirty. Every day you shave off the wait, your cash stays healthier. Be up front, clear, and confident. Say, “This is how I work: I take half up front and the balance on handoff. That keeps it fair for both of us.”
If there’s pushback, negotiate, but never default to terms that screw you. With suppliers, ask for more time. “Can I get 30 days to pay instead of 14?” Many say yes if you just ask, they’d rather keep you as a customer.
Protect your cash flow with contracts and clear invoices, always. Chasing money is the slowest way to grow.
Want to know advanced negotiation scripts, hidden leverage points, and dirty tricks to get paid faster and pay slower, without burning bridges? Pro tier gives you the playbook the big dogs use to keep their accounts fat and stress-free.
