Doing business without a contract is like shooting yourself in the foot, because people can be real shady when it comes time to pay. They will try to lowball you, talk you down on price after you've already done the work. People's words these days are nowhere near as strong as they were 30 years ago, times have changed, people are entitled selfish pricks when it comes to paying up for services rendered. If you don't have a contract in place prepare to fight for your money, prepare to be angry and frustrated.
I learned my lesson years ago and never again will I ever do business without a contract in place. It's sad because there are a few good people left in this world that maybe you can trust. It's the ones that smile in your face and shake your hand and said everything is going to be okay, until it was time to pay up, then all of a sudden they were ghosts, hard to get a hold of, always dodging you and your phone calls. That's where contracts come in clutch. Now you have the upper hand and I encourage you to add late fees to your contracts, make sure that you put late fees that max out legal limitations, throw a 15% late fee in there, that will surely get their attention. Hire an attorney to draw up your paperwork if you have to or you can use online services like LegalShield and have generic contracts that you can create yourself to protect you and your business. Don't be a victim of being burned by some big shot that knows you don't have a contract in place and can pull you in all different types of directions. I've been through it all and I hate chasing people for invoices or asking for payment. Be a good business person, pay your debts on time and don't be a scumbag. 😎
I have attached a link here below to a FREE! service (app) that can easily be filled out from your phone or computer with your clients information and have them sign digitally and send back to your email protecting you and your business from hours of your life trying to collect on past due invoices. Thank me later.