Everyone’s talked about charging more but let me add a vote specifically for dealing with credit risk - it’s real. I worked with a lovely but cash-strapped sta

Everyone’s talked about charging more but let me add a vote specifically for dealing with credit risk - it’s real. I worked with a lovely but cash-strapped startup who really needed my help, and I made absolutely certain to collect payment up front as a condition to working with them. I billed on the 1st of the month for the upcoming month and it took away all stress around (their) cash flow. It ended up being a really fun engagement that lasted 6 months, and when they told me they were really tight on cash and had to stop the engagement in 2 weeks, it was zero stress on my part (because they’d already paid for those two weeks). Chasing a client for money is one of the worst aspects of consulting and I’ve just decided not to let it happen again. I’ve been on both sides — the consultant trying to get paid, and (unfortunately) the client who didn’t have enough cash, and it’s agony for everyone involved.