I’ve had two customers so far stiff me on bills. One paid me half the amount owed and claims they just don’t have the money to pay the other half and today another customer paid online but the payment was returned. The payment processor is taking the money back out of my account and charging me a $10 processing fee. I know I can charge a late fee and or file a lien on their property for non payment.

I just feel defeated when these type of things happen because I do good work and provide substantial value to my customers. How do I avoid these bad customers? Has anyone had more success receiving consistent valid payments? I normally send an invoice to their email after work has been completed.