Emma, Graphic Design Freelancer, Bristol.

• Business Size: Freelancer

• Location: Bristol

• Experience: 10 years self-employed

• Impact: Emma often struggles with clients delaying payments, which leaves her unable to pay for essential software subscriptions. This has resulted in missed deadlines and reputational damage.

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“I’ve been running my graphic design business for 10 years now. When I started, I knew there’d be ups and downs, but I wasn’t prepared for how often clients would delay payments. One particular job stands out: I created a complete rebranding package for a small tech startup. The project took weeks of late nights, revisions, and back-and-forth calls. They loved the final product but took three months to pay the invoice. That’s 90 days of me chasing them while juggling other projects.

I rely on regular payments to keep my software subscriptions running and cover everyday expenses. When a big invoice doesn’t come through, it throws everything off. In this case, I couldn’t renew my Adobe subscription, which meant I had to temporarily use free software that wasn’t up to the task. This led to delays with other clients, and one even left a poor review about missed deadlines.

It’s not just about the money—it’s the stress and lost time chasing payments. It’s awkward, too, because you don’t want to sour relationships. I now ask for 50% upfront, but even then, some clients stretch the final payment for as long as they can. Late payments make an already unpredictable job feel impossible to manage at times. I love what I do, but I wish clients understood the impact of their delays.”