Before you agree to anything
Whether to take the customer at all, at what price, on what terms, and with what paid up front.
Yourswho controls this stretch
What Leverage Actually Is
Leverage is the ability to make something happen at a cost you are willing to pay. For a small supplier it is almost entirely spent before the work starts.
Checking a Customer Before You Need To
Five checks, none of which takes more than ten minutes, all of which are awkward once the work has started.
Pricing the Risk of Not Being Paid
A customer who pays at ninety days is buying credit from you. The cost of that credit can be calculated and almost never is.
The Terms You Can Actually Get
Your terms are a starting position. Theirs are a policy. What is genuinely negotiable, and what is not worth asking for.
Asking for Money Up Front
A deposit is the single term that changes a small supplier's position. Four ways to ask for one, and what makes each acceptable.
The Customer Not Worth Having
Some work costs more than it pays once the waiting, the chasing and the attention are counted. Five signs, available before you agree.
Writing Down What Was Agreed
Six lines in an email, sent the same day, are worth more than any contract nobody reads. What has to be in them.