[tluyben2]

> Do checks really take 3-6 months to be received from clients?

We resisted way way too long before using a factoring agency; it costs money but it takes away the chasing, stress etc and, very importantly, they make the contracts and invoices better. At least ours did (and this is over 10 years of being happy clients).

A good factoring agency also lets you negotiate % for outliers (we had mostly 50-1500k contracts and at one time we had a 10m one; they made a really nice deal on, with us and the clients, over payments were both client and them gave up % of payment to get to a deal that worked for all.

My only tip after running dev shops of different sizes is to believe in your own strength; clients try to work you; the bigger the company, the more they might be trained for this. And I mean have staff particularly trained for screwing/squeezing small agencies; it happens a lot. Make your own plan and don’t go for pots of gold; there is enough if you are good. And I don’t even mean at tech (which needs to be good in my opinion) but mostly understanding what the client wants and discussing that at a level they understand and like.

The hardest thing, and why I will never do that again, after having successful (in my country quite sweeping) companies, I will never do services again is; I do not like talking about things that are not the project. And clients do demand that of you; the bigger, the more time.

[Ant_on_]

tluyben2 thanks for your tip. Setting boundaries is very important, and not allowing bigger companies to squeeze you is also important.