Whilst law protects your rights as a business - I think it's just as important to know your rights as a human. As someone who has worked hard for your client and delivered the work as you'd promised.
You have the right to be respected - not paying you on time shows a lack of respect for your work and for you as an individual.
You have the right to understand what's happening - all too often, late payments also come with little or zero communication, the invoice just goes unpaid, and then you're doing the chasing. It's not too much to ask to, at the very least, know why your invoice hasn't been paid yet.
You have the right to be a priority - I don't care how large or small your client is, or how big the project was - you are just as important as any another project that's taking place. The work was important enough for them to ask you to do it, so it's important enough to pay for.
You have the right to be frustrated - you've done good work, you delivered it on time, and now you deserve to get paid on time, and anything else is unfair. it's not a bad thing to feel a sense of unjust, and not a bad thing to demand what is rightfully owed to you.
You have the right to know this isn't your fault - late payments are all too common, and not a reflection upon you or your work, but rather poor process and lack of value placed upon suppliers from others. Don't let the blame lie at your feet for the behaviours of others - its not your job to help them run their accounts team (although there are lots of things you can do to make it as easy as possible for them).
You have the right to deal with this how you see best - no matter what is written here in the guide of how we recommend you approach late payments, you know what works right for you - and you should always follow the path that you're most comfortable with. Just make sure you're not making decisions which ultimately lead to your bank or emotional health going into an overdraft.
So, we know our rights, what is holding us back from putting our foot down and demanding payment right now?
It's probably those pesky things called emotions and feelings. After all, we're human - and all small businesses are built upon relationships, especially with our clients. Stomping our feet and threatening bayliffs doesn't seem conducive to building great business relationships, right?
You have rights to be paid on time legally, and you have a right to be respected morally - don't feel bad for demanding either.
