In Freelancing, Can You Trust Anyone?

Once, when I had been in business for only a little over a year, I had a client I had worked with several times hire me for a small writing assignment. “No need for a contract,” the client said before we started, “I’ll just send over a check right now.”

Ordinarily, I’d never work with anyone without a contract. But this client was someone I knew—she had been referred to me by a friend. And we’d worked together several times before without a hitch.

So I did the project, the client was happy, and I hadn’t gotten my check yet. No big deal—sometimes the mail can take a little while. But weeks went by, and my emails to the client went unanswered. I didn’t have a contract—so I had nothing to fall back on to get the person to pay.

The bottom line? You never really know anyone—and you can’t leave your business decisions up to trust, even if you’ve worked with the person before. You never know what kind of financial pressure someone is under these days—pressure that could lead them to stiff you when they never would have before. Who knows? Get a contract. Just in case.