You’re probably aware that you have to spend money to make money. The good thing about a freelance business is you can start with a pretty bare business budget and still see results. You can build a solid foundation without spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on bells and whistles. Here are important (and relatively […]
Sending invoices through email seems like a simple task. You draw up a new email, address it, attach the invoice, and hit “send.” In a few days, hopefully, you’ll receive your payment in full. The process looks simple to end users, but it’s actually quite complex. After hitting the “send” button, emails are routed through […]
There are lots of responsibilities that come along with running a business. One of those is sending invoices to customers for products or services rendered. But if you’ve been sending invoices and not getting paid, you need to find out why in a hurry. After all, without money coming in, your company or employer probably […]
If your business is struggling with cash flow, your household is likely struggling with cash flow as well (unless you’re dipping into personal savings to pay the bills). Managing cash flow is one of the biggest problem areas I had in my business for quite a while. Cash would come pouring in through the faucet. […]
A freelancer’s passion is to help people in some way whether you’re offering writing, design, or another service. Being a little too helpful can cause us to not set proper boundaries with our clients. Beware — unclear boundaries and doing favors don’t help your bottom line. Rush work is a specific area where you need […]
As a business coach, one of the things I help many of my clients with is sales. This includes both the mindset required for sales and actual techniques. While helping business owners, I’ve noticed there are several common sales mistakes I need to work with them on. Here are just a few of them. Lack […]
Sending invoices can be an exciting time because it means payday is nearly here. Yet and still, if you’re a freelancer, you know that doing admin work like sending invoices means more unpaid time on your end. Depending on how many clients you have and what your workload is like, you could spend a significant […]
When dealing in the world of physical products, you will inevitably run into payment and shipping terms negotiations. Like in most business-to-business relationships, shipping and payment terms are often negotiable. Don’t just assume all payment terms are set in stone, and never accept a deal that isn’t good for you. To get a good deal, […]
The main focus for new freelancers is finding work and filling up a client roster. An area that may get less attention is business systems such as your client on-boarding and bookkeeping processes. These systems are just as important as marketing strategies because it’s how you serve your client and then physically bring in money. […]
If you’re in business long enough, you’ll eventually run across those clients who never pay on time. If you have to deal with customers who don’t pay on time all the time, this post will help you. In certain industries, you’ll find that you have multiple clients who are consistently tardy with payment. Understanding how to […]
With more talent moving into the freelance industry along with higher growth in startups and small business, the process for billing customers and clients has become an important business decision to make. Many businesses do not have extensive invoices to send out each month or, even if they do, the paper invoicing system has become time-consuming, expensive, and not necessarily useful in collecting what's owed. That's why the Due.com solution of online invoicing has become so popular in not only addressing these issues for businesses of all sizes, but it has also offered a free tool for those on limited budgets or for those whom operate on a smaller billing scale.
Beyond just providing a scalable invoicing solution for you, our goal is to also help provide valuable information that can help you improve your business, brand, operations, cash flow and profitability. Having this information can help you prepare more professional invoices that reflect your brand image, better manage the time spent on projects, improve your overall efficiency, lower operational costs and provide more accurate data to use to accurately estimate new projects. Overall, just having a more effective invoicing system for your small business can drive better decision-making that will then impact your results.
Our invoicing tips cover a lot of subjects related to billing and invoicing, including topics like how to get your clients to pay upfront. Many of you may be concerned about asking for a deposit on a project before it is finished because you are afraid it will upset your client. Due.com has suggestions and tips on learning how to negotiate better terms for your freelance projects. Similarly, other articles listed in the Invoicing Tips category on our blog provide sound advice and easy tactics that you can implement if your clients are not paying you on time or at all. We realize many of you may be afraid to ask for this money owed to you so there are ways offered to help you get past this fear and get what's rightfully yours to have cash flow and keep your business afloat.
The available invoicing information provided also features regular stories directed at specific industries, including contractors, photographers, designers, virtual assistants, bloggers, dog walkers and other types of freelancers or small business owners. The advice is tailored to the industry and offers recognition of issues and challenges faced in that business segment.
Other subjects included in the Invoicing Tips category involve how to become more fiscally savvy through your invoicing strategy, including tactics like invoicing directly after completing a project as opposed to putting it off for another week - offering online invoices and embedded invoices in your website along with online payment capability. Due addresses invoices in multiple languages and currencies and recurring invoices.
There also may be times where you make mistakes with invoices, so we cover this topic in this blog category. You will be able to recognize where mistakes most often happen with invoicing as well as how to fix or even prevent these errors. Other advice includes strategic decisions like whether you should charge by the hour or the project, how to set prices and how to determine an appropriate grace period for clients. Regularly updated invoicing guides, and the existing article library with continuing and new upcoming posts are designed to help you and your business to receive renumeration for the hard work you have done and for your dedication to your client's needs.