ON GETTING A DEPOSIT…
Do it.
Or risk more than just the time you have given to the gig already.
Back in the day, I got fed up working with the advertising agencies in my city. They started making a habit of 60 – 90 – 180 payment schedules for photographers (we were called ‘vendors’ on the accounting log).
After a particularly harrowing experience where I had gone to a couple of hundred in the bank with nearly $130,000 in receivables while looking at an upcoming week of 5 days of shooting. This would entail dozens and dozens of rolls of film and processing and signing for tens of thousands in model and extra expenses and more.
I was feeling a little gut-punched.
One agency had owed me money for four months and just notified me that they had ‘lost the billing’ so it would be a few more months before I got paid.
Agencies seemed to ‘lose the billing’ more often than not.
After that harrowing week, I decided I had trained clients to treat me like crap.
The agencies were not late on the copier rental fees.
The agencies were not late on their payroll.
The agencies were not late on paying the phone bill, or the water bill or the lease payments for their fancy cars.
All of those invoices were never lost.
Only photographers and illustrators were so unlucky.
I looked myself in the mirror and decided I was never going to do a job without a deposit to cover expenses and any additional billing lines (models, MUA’s etc…).
The first time I asked for it, they said no.
And I said “I understand. Thanks for thinking of me.”
He asked me why I wanted a deposit, so I told him. Clearly and concisely. And I wasn’t rude or condescending. I told him that I was fronting the money and getting in hot water with my ‘vendors’ and that I wanted to maintain a working relationship with them while building my business.
He said he understood, we shook hands and I left.
I felt like throwing up.
It was a good gig, and there was some serious money on the table. At the time I had 4 full-time assistants, and I just walked away from a gig because of a decision I had made to myself.
My assistants were paid weekly, and I never missed payroll.
I did not hear from that agency for several months, but then I got a call for a catalog/product page shoot with a lot of products. I met with the AD and we looked at what would be needed. This gig would take at least 500 sheets of 4×5 and 50 boxes of 4×5 polaroid. We needed a male and female hand model, and there were a few specific props that had to be purchased/rented.
It was a very cordial meeting, and I thought maybe he forgot my stipulation from last time.
I got back to the studio and my studio manager and I had to coordinate a week straight through and then get a close estimate on the reimbursed items that would have to be covered.
I sent the bid back (by motorcycle messenger… remember those?).
The next day another messenger arrived at my studio with a check that covered my expenses.
You teach people how to treat you. I stayed on the highest ground, made my case, and it made sense to them.
When you do not ask for a deposit, you run the risk of blowing your capital, getting in a bad position with your vendors and talent, and start to feel the pressures of owing a lot of money to someone that you had not collected.
(Someday I will talk about the Christmas Eve I awoke at 4 AM realizing that the agency was on the hook for $2.1M ad buys and we had not heard from our client for a week. It worked out, but Tums’ stock went up three points in January.)
Keeping cash flow consistent and never being too far ‘in the hole’ is a very empowering place to be. You can take more risks and build more contacts when you are not in total fear the modeling agency was sending the goon squad because you hadn’t paid them in thirty days even though you haven’t been paid yet.
And really, my incapacity to handle finances should not bear on the ability of a model to make a living. I needed to get my schtick together for them as well as me.
Deposits are the best protection against someone who doesn’t pay. While you may not have made any money, you are not OUT any money either. Your deposit should cover your expenses plus a few hundred for the unseen that always pop up.
Working with new clients always requires a deposit. Working with clients you have had for a while, and know very well is easy… the deposit is just part of doing business and they are on board.
You taught them your worth.
WHAT HAPPENS IF THE CLIENT SAYS THEY DON’T HAVE THE MONEY RIGHT NOW
Walk away. If they do not have it now, when will they have it? And if they are such bad business people that they are willing to engage you without having funds in hand because maybe they think you will take the fall…? Well, screw that.
I have been around the block too many times for that crap to smell like perfume.
Figure out your out of pocket expenses, add 15% – and get a deposit.
It’s just good business.