Don't Ask for an Invoice Unless You Plan to Pay It | Sorry, Not Sorry

When I was a blog editor nothing infuriated me more than a wedding pro signing up for an ad, asking to be invoiced, and then they NEVER paid it ... as a small business owner who has always worked with other small business owners I always wanted to say: HOW WOULD YOU LIKE IT IF A BRIDE DID THAT TO YOU???  It's a slap in the face, it's disrespectful, and it's unprofessional << and I rarely toss around the word unprofessional ... because have you read my posts on here??  I drop the f-word like a f*cking truck driver.

Here's the thing: You should never ask for an invoice or tell someone you are hiring them unless you have the funds ready and available to HIRE AND PAY THEM.  Sorry, really really not sorry.

Along the lines of asking for invoices and NEVER paying them is 'pretending to be a client' to get information from someone on their pricing or the way they handle their business.  Since launching The Editor's Touch in May I have had 4 people pretend they want to hire me, ask for a contract and an invoice, and then !!POOF!! disappear without a single reply to my emails ... never paying the invoice, never signing the contract ... and I know they were digging for information.  That is wrong on so many levels.  If you are trying to start a company and want information about what other people do: JUST ASK!!!!  Srsly.

I am appalled that small business owners who invoice people themselves would ever ask for an invoice and not pay it.  I would NEVER do that ... if I ask to be invoiced then the payment is coming that day ... otherwise I would prepare the company that it will take me a week or so to pay it.

If you are a wedding professional who doesn't officially book a date until you receive a retainer then you are a smartie pants!!  And if a bride and groom say: PLEASE SAVE THIS DATE FOR US WE WILL PAY THE RETAINER TOMORROW MORNING ... and tomorrow morning comes and goes ... and 3 days later you still haven't received their payment ... and then another couple comes who wants the SAME date ... it puts you in an awkward position!  These are things you need to consider when you ask a wedding blog for an invoice for an ad and never pay it ... it creates a problem for the wedding blog editor or the magazine who is holding page 2 for your ad ... it goes both ways ... the polite and respectful rule to follow is:

Don't ask for an invoice unless you plan to pay it that day and/or if you know it will take you a few days or a week to pay it you need to TELL them that and be upfront to set expectations.

Hate me if you want ... call me a bitch for putting this out there ... but I'm guessing there is not one small business owner reading this who hasn't been pretty pissed off when someone strings them along where money is involved.

XO~ Heather