The Problem with Deadbeats
Aug 30, 2009
By TopIZ
Filed in Business Support Services
I am an avid reader of Angela Hoy’s WritersWeekly.com, a weekly newsletter for (you guessed it) writers. Last week she wrote about the problem with deadbeats – publishers and clients who stiff writers (often deliberately) by taking their work and not paying them for it.
This problem seems to be quite common in the writing industry. I myself am still owed more than $300 from a client who published my articles last year. As is the case with many of these deadbeat publishers, his excuse was that he was going to have to declare bankruptcy, because he didn’t even have the money to pay his own bills, let alone his business’s.
The thing is, your financial situation can’t possibly get to this point overnight. There are a lot of things that lead up to this kind of thing. And that’s why, as a business owner, it’s your responsibility to look into debt consulting services when you first begin to notice the signs, BEFORE you start owing writers money. Not to mention, you need to stop hiring more people when you can’t afford to pay the ones you’ve already got! Just because you are having financial problems doesn’t give you the right to ruin someone else’s finances by not being able to pay them when they are expecting a paycheck.
So, business owners, be kind to your employees, and seek help when you need it. If you are proactive about it, you might be able to salvage your business using business debt reduction tactics — but even if you can’t, it is still your responsibility to do the moral thing and make sure you only work your employees for as long as you can afford to pay them!
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