Managing growth while juggling unpaid invoices has become a real challenge.
It’s frustrating trying to plan for expansion when I’m constantly reminded of overdue payments. It feels like I can’t fully commit to investing in my business when I’m still waiting for those funds to come through.
Focus on collecting what clients owe before starting new projects. Unpaid invoices stall growth.
Consider a limit on how much unpaid work you’ll accept from each client. Once they reach that cap, halt work until they settle their balance.
Cash flow problems make everything harder. I just focus on the next job and collect upfront when possible.
The waiting game kills momentum. I track unpaid invoices separately from actual business money now.
Here’s what helped me break the cycle:
I used to put everything on hold when invoices were late. Big mistake. Now I assume some payments will be slow and plan around it.
Clients who pay on time subsidize growth. Slow payers just get extra attention until they catch up. Don’t let the bad ones stop you from moving forward with the good ones.
Cut off clients who don’t pay within 30 days. I stop all work until they pay up. You can’t build a business on promises and late payments. Get a line of credit for expansion instead of gambling on money that might never come. Growth happens when you control cash flow, not when you’re chasing deadbeats.
I just ask for half upfront now and keep working.
Learned this the hard way. Set payment terms that actually work for your cash flow and don’t budge. We switched to 50% upfront for new clients and net 15 instead of net 30.
I run two budgets for growth planning - one with actual money in the bank, another with projected income from outstanding invoices. Only spend from the first one.
Unpaid invoices are part of the game, but don’t let them freeze your decision-making. Build growth plans around guaranteed income, not wishful thinking.