You have 2 options really:
Most of your creditors wont bother beyond sending you a simple demand notice. Therefore you should keep them all in a pile (or loosely scattered) and ignore them. The longer your ignore them, the more they will go away. In fact you should adopt a policy of only paying those who follow up their demand letters with court action. Court can be fun, and 3 appearances a year (for example) takes less time and costs less money than servicing your debts on a regular basis.
You may also want to consider leaving your favourite restaurants without paying the bill, and shitting on your own doorstep.
The most important outcome in any negotiation is to reach agreement. Unfortunately not all clients or prospects are as clever as you and so often you will be forced to argue and talk over them until they understand what is right. If you find yourself in this situation, do not be deterred, do not give in and MOST IMPORTANTLY do not listen to the person with whom you are talking. Listening to other ideas and perspectives will distract your from your argument and you may find the conversation heading off at a tangent.
Contracts are a pain in the arse to write, especially if your product or service varies from client to client.
For this reason you should only bother if you really don’t like the person you are dealing with. If you like the client/customer, then let your word be your bond and trust that you are on the same page.
This may seem like a gamble, but people like to gamble. That’s why we buy lottery tickets and eat blowfish. Think of not bothering with contracts, as enjoying a gamble, and avoiding a pain in the arse.
As little as possible. The less you spend on your website, the more money you have left over for biscuits.
I would recommend you have a single page with no pictures or contact details and if you can, try to make it look like a child designed it for you.
Clearly this strategy is working for many companies who stick by this winning formula year after year.
Make a point of not putting an overdraft on your business account. This way, you will encur charges each time you fall slightly into negative balance. The bank will take the money from these charges and use it to buy mushrooms, and lend some of it to it’s customers. As a wildly successful new business owner, you will not notice these small sums, but you will benefit from the iimprovement of the economy.
You may also consider doing this with any personal bank accounts you have. If cash flow is not an issue for you, similar altruistic benefits can be generated by not putting parking tickets on your car.
Making somebody feel stupid is a great way of demonstrating how knowledgable you are. Be sure to use words and language unique to your industry that nobody but an insider would understand.
It’s a great way of clarifying your position as an industry insider and their position as stupid.
…is not to bother. You will only end up guessing and lying and creating false hope. Save your soul and surf ebay for a bit instead.
There is nothing worse (in the world of business) than to see an idea, project or venture crash and burn around you. There is only one way to guarantee that you will not suffer the pain of seeing this happen (assuming you are going to undertake one):
Do it half hearted! If it works out…you’ve won (without even trying!) and if it doesn’t…well so what - you didn’t care anyway!
Either way you wont look stupid, and you’ll have tons of energy left to crack on with the next half hearted idea!!!
Don’t concede an inch, and make sure you get the last word. It’s essential to create an environment that you feel happy in.
The troublesome customer will know that you are not to be messed with, and will most likely know not to mess with you again.
If you deliver your angry last word with enough conviction, there is a fair chance they will tell all of their troublesome friends to leave you alone too! After all, these are not the sort of people you want to do business with anyway.