Re: working with IT Services firms -- CONSULT400

Thanks to all for the comments.
This (unnamed) co has many hundreds if not thousands in placements,
so my leverage is nill (except perhaps them having an upset customer). I'm aware they have a cash flow problem, but violating your signed contract terms and possibly putting your contracted tech firm (me) out of business seems to be a bad business decision when this industry seems build on reputation, and making myself and others walk only decreases future revenue. If I did walk I could almost guarantee I would move to the very end of the payment priority.
Since this thread started, I did get a response to my earlier attempts to resolve this. Will have to see if they follow thru.
We don't have to beat this to death.
Jim

----- Original Message ----- From: "Booth Martin" <booth@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Consulting on the iSeries / AS400" <consult400@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, June 15, 2009 11:25 AM
Subject: Re: [Consult400] working with IT Services firms

Times are tough this year. Lots of companies are feeling stresses they
have never felt before. Yes, there are the deadbeat firms out there,
and yes, there are also firms about to fail.

But there are also a whole lot of firms out there who are hanging on by
their fingernails and who are mightily embarrassed about their cash
position. Most of these firms will survive.

I would suggest that shared miseries are ties that bind. If you like
these people, this could be an opportunity to develop a life-customer
who will stand by you when you need it most.

If you like this outfit and want to continue with them you made need to
be flexible. They have needs, but so don't you. Honest talk is
important. You need to be careful in talking with the customer, but I
am curious if the customer is also paying slow? That might make a
difference in your choices.

John Myers wrote:

Jim,

I assume that you are spending 100% of your time working with this one
firm ... it sounds like you have an "undiversified revenue portfolio"
... many 1099's are in this situation!

When my company was a startup, I had one account that was a deadbeat.
After I followed much of the steps that others had offered here as
advice ... I told the deadbeat that I would be back when they had a
check for me ... and went on to work on other projects. Usually about
a week later, that check would materialize & I would shift some of my
time balance back to the deadbeat ... until they got slow with me
again.

Soon, I had enough work to hire other people and eventually
decommitted from the deadbeat to support my employees in accounts who
paid regularly.

I understand that you might not be looking to be a boss ... but you
are facing a challenge that many 1099's face in that you have only one
source of revenue with zero commitment that it will continue! You are
in a situation similar to the Enron employees ... who only owned one
stock ... and it imploded. Anyone who is slow-paying 1099's in this
economy is either in danger of collapse or is a scumbag who feels that
they can exploit their 1099's! Neither are good for you ...

If I were an IRS auditor, I suspect that you would be deemed to be an
"employee" of the contracting firm ... because you don't seem to be in
control of your destiny (no matter what your contract says)! That may
be useful for leverage as you look ahead! Check out:
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=99921,00.html

The company who you are "contracted with" appears to have breached
their agreement with you. As such, your sense of obligation to "live
within that agreement" may be suicidal to you.

I'd strongly encourage you to "walk with your feet" and look for other
sources for 1099 work ... so that you have either an alternative
source of revenue or a source of leverage to get them to pay up.

Please feel free to contact me, off list at jmyers (at) sbsusa.com or
at the phone number below, if you want to talk about this in more
detail.

John

John Myers
IBM Certified Specialist - IBM PowerSystems for i Technical Solutions Design
IBM Certified Specialist - Advisor for e-Business
President and CEO
Strategic Business Systems, Inc.
17 S. Franklin Turnpike, Ramsey, NJ 07446 USA
E-mail: jmyers (at) sbsusa.com Phone: +1 (201) EASY 400 x131
Web: http://www.sbsusa.com Fax: +1 (201) 934-5684

Free Sports League Management - Powered by PowerSystem i
http://www.ScoreBook.com

Get and route intelligence from your IBM i web site - WebSurvey/400
http://www.WebSurvey400.com

Systems supporting the distribution operations of Motor Vehicle manufacturers
http://www.VehicleSystem.com

On Sun, Jun 14, 2009 at 2:54 PM, Jim Franz<franz400@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

How does one deal with the large IT Services firms when they become very delinquent in paying invoices?
For many years I've only dealt direct with a customer.
Now working for a large firm. on 1099, have a contract (their contract)
for payment xx days after billing, regardless of whether they have been paid by end customer. But they are regularly 30 days beyond that.
I send reminders, called, and occassionally get a check, but never catch up.
Do I tell the customer?
Does it take having a lawyer?
In 25 years I've never walked out on a customer's project.
jim

------------------------------------------------------------------------

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 8.5.339 / Virus Database: 270.12.70/2177 - Release Date: 06/15/09 05:54:00

--
---------------------------------
Booth Martin
http://www.Martinvt.com
---------------------------------

--
This is the Consulting on the iSeries / AS400 (Consult400) mailing list
To post a message email: Consult400@xxxxxxxxxxxx
To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change list options,
visit: http://lists.midrange.com/mailman/listinfo/consult400
or email: Consult400-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Before posting, please take a moment to review the archives
at http://archive.midrange.com/consult400.