Running a business has good times, and not-so-good times. A massive risk is that your client won’t pay on time and is seemingly unreachable. It’s traumatic to say the least when you have sent a number of unanswered invoices.

It’s easy to jump to conclusions, especially if you have been burnt before! Accusing a client of racking up a large bill and then avoiding payment can potentially destroy a relationship. Keep in mind they're are perfectly legitimate reasons that a client may not respond right away. Perhaps they are on holiday, or having personal matters that are taking up their headspace. If they haven’t disappeared before, they may deserve the benefit of the doubt at least once, so give them a reasonable amount of time to respond before you start the chase.

Prior to invoicing, have a legal agreement already established outlining when and how you should be paid for your service or product. If you aren’t getting paid or you haven’t received a reply to your invoice, resend the invoice as a reminder. If you sent invoice reminders and they still haven’t paid, follow up with a polite and professional email.

If you fear that maybe your client isn’t receiving your emails. If you re-sent invoices, reminders and emails, you may have to resort to another form of communication to give yourself some form of peace of mind. Most companies can be found on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or in some online capacity. Contact them through these mediums with a simple, polite message to get in touch with you. Remember to be professional, after all you are representing your own business too.

If your clients are still MIA at this point, you should have an attorney draft a letter. Too costly? Sometimes the idea of legal action can get the client to contact you and, at the very least, make an arrangement to pay what they owe. You don’t have the time?