[chrisbennet]

Never loan a client more than 1 or 2 weeks pay. My current client has gave me a large retainer up front but usually I try to work for more than one client so no single client owes me more than 40 hours pay.

Technical competence is only 1 of the 3 things you need to be good at to make it in this business; the other two are (a) getting paid (b) finding new work

[CyberFonic]

In my experience this is the only useful approach.

By definition an entity that does not pay, is a leech not a client.

My approach is to break down projects into small units of work. Bill upon delivery of each unit and stop further work until it is paid for. Of course, there are some leeches out there who will bluster to get more work done without paying for what has already been delivered. I simply fire any client who becomes too abusive. They are simply not worth the hassle.

[casion]

I would say that technical competence is not one of the 2 things you need to make it in the business.

You only need to find work and get paid.

Technical competence is just a bonus that may improve longevity, sometimes.

[chrisbennet]

You could be right. I jokingly tell my friends that I get contract because people know my reputation - and yet they hire me anyway. :-)

[muzani]

I have programming students who come from some business or sales backgrouns. They feel guilty that they wasted all those years of experience. I tell them the same thing, the hardest thing about consulting is simply getting paid and agreeing on terms of work.

[horsecaptin]

Couldn't agree more. There's a fun video that goes well with this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h3RJhoqgK8