This is one of those questions that almost every freelance web designer runs into at some point. And if you haven’t experienced it yet, consider this your warning, because it’s coming.
The situation here is a pretty classic one. Someone new to freelancing built a website for a mobile detailer. Since they were just starting out and trying to build their portfolio, they told the client he could pay when the work was finished. They had him sign a contract, built the site, made all the requested changes, asked to be paid — and the client just… stopped responding. He wanted to “check out the site first” and if it was good, he’d pay. The freelancer sent him a temporary URL. Never heard back.
Now they’re sitting there with a finished website and no money, wondering what to do since they at least have a signed contract.
First off — yeah, this is a painful lesson. But its one of those things where sometimes it only takes once and you never make the same mistake again. Sometimes it takes three or four times. Even people who have been in business for years will occasionally let their guard down with a client who “seems legit” and still end up getting burned.
The 50% Up Front Rule
The answer here, and the answer to preventing this from ever happening again, is simple: always get at least 50% up front. No exceptions.
When a client puts money down before the work starts, everything changes. They have skin in the game. They’re financially and emotionally invested in seeing the project through. And from your side, you have a ton more leverage — you just don’t deliver the final product until the remaining balance is paid. Your not holding anyone hostage, you just have a completely reasonable business policy that any legit client will understand and respect.
The clients who push back on a deposit up front are almost always the ones who were going to be a problem anyway. Serious clients with real businesses don’t balk at a 50% deposit. They expect it. It’s how professional services work.
You Attract the Clients You Think You Deserve
This is something that sounds a little woo-woo but is actually just true. When your new and you’re thinking “I just started, I don’t have much of a portfolio, I should probably do some free work or discount my rates to get clients” — you will attract exactly those kinds of people. People who want cheap or free work. People who will take advantage of the fact that you feel like you don’t deserve to be paid fairly.
But if you start from day one saying this is what I charge and here’s how it works — 50% up front, balance due on delivery — you will attract clients who are like “yeah, that sounds reasonable, let’s do it.” Those are the clients worth having.
There’s actually a good example of this with dumpster rentals of all things. If you require a $50 non-refundable reservation fee and someone cancels, you keep the money. Thats how real businesses operate. They offer value, and in exchange they expect to be treated like a real business. Not a pushover.
What About Free Work?
There’s actually a cautionary tale here too. At one point a web design class was being run where students were being paid to learn how to build websites, and as part of the project they were offering to build free websites for local small businesses. No strings attached. Just good practice for the students, free website for the business.
The people who signed up for free websites were some of the most difficult clients imaginable. One guy had a laundry list of like a thousand demands for his free website. People with zero financial investment treated the service like they were paying enterprise rates. They had the highest expectations and gave the hardest time.
Eventually one guy who never paid a single dollar ended up calling constantly, deleted half his own website by accident, and then called in irate expecting free tech support. He basically treated the whole team like his personal web team on retainer — without ever paying anything.
The lesson is just this: free or heavily discounted work does not attract good clients. It attracts the worst ones. Charge what you’re worth, get money up front, and the quality of the people you work with will improve dramatically.
As For the Signed Contract
You can technically pursue payment through small claims court with a signed contract in hand. Whether its worth your time and energy is a different question. The bigger takeaway is to not be in this position again — 50% up front, every time, no exceptions. Not for anyone.
