One of the biggest challenges of being self-employed and/or small business owner like I am and starting off as an independent market research consultant is that I have to work for more established companies while I build my client-base (I guess those of you who have a client base already before starting have an advantage). For last year or so, I have been subcontracting with a relatively small but established consulting company and while I love the work (though, the pay is smaller than I would like), I have had a hard time getting paid on time. Some of the delays are standard for this type of situation -- they don't pay me until they get paid (which is not fair because that is not an excuse and neither legally valid) -- because they always have that excuse. In this case, however, because of their internal problems, I have not been paid a penny for over 6 months and I even had to pay from my pocket for a few business trips (those invoices also remain unpaid, even though I paid my credit card bill months ago).
Despite this situation, because I had no other work, I signed up for another project that they threw at me. I know that once you are in a hole, you should stop digging, but I needed the work and thought that it would help them improve their cash flows if I helped them finish yet another project. At the same time, though, I worry that as nice as these folks are, if they declare bankruptcy, my loss will be even greater. This has been a painful decision and a very difficult situation to be in and at this point my only hope is that they will pay me. I have used up a lot of my savings and my wife is freaking out. We still have our stocks but I think of those as retirement savings and would not like to touch them. What takes my sleep away is that if these guys go bankrupt, I will be in deep trouble for having worked so hard for over six months, and other than learning about new industries, I would have nothing else to show for it.
Despite this situation, because I had no other work, I signed up for another project that they threw at me. I know that once you are in a hole, you should stop digging, but I needed the work and thought that it would help them improve their cash flows if I helped them finish yet another project. At the same time, though, I worry that as nice as these folks are, if they declare bankruptcy, my loss will be even greater. This has been a painful decision and a very difficult situation to be in and at this point my only hope is that they will pay me. I have used up a lot of my savings and my wife is freaking out. We still have our stocks but I think of those as retirement savings and would not like to touch them. What takes my sleep away is that if these guys go bankrupt, I will be in deep trouble for having worked so hard for over six months, and other than learning about new industries, I would have nothing else to show for it.