shoulda, woulda, coulda I don't think any of us can look back in hindsight and say we've never made an error in judgement regarding how to do business, I know I sure have made tons of them over the years! But the situation your in right now is a tough one. Grin and bear it and do the best you can to get as much money as possible today and tomorrow...
The way to do the contract with her was to get it either signed with a credit app (which I prolly would have done since it was such a big chunk of change) and if she flunked, I would have said you have to have someone else sign on the contract with you. Everything would be in writing, and number of guests would be confirmed within 5 days of the party and failure to have the last payment made by x date would result in a forfiture of funds to date and cancellation of the party...It should also talk about the facilities and any disclaimers or protection you need to have for yourself in it (such as, running water, sinks, fridges, cooking equipment, electricity, a/c...whatever), and also discuss that outside contractors would be considered part of the head count (that means if you feed the dj, they pay for the dj), also how children are treated regarding head counts. As painful sometimes as negotiating price and terms can be, especially when you are in a "family/friend" situation, it's well worth it and avoids trauma and hurt feelings down the road. Isn't it better to get screwed when you have nothing invested in something? Rather than scrambling and praying you get paid out the "goodness of people's hearts"? Trust me, people will respect you more for having established and consistent business practices versus being "cheap". No value is ever placed on cheap. If someone doesn't have to sweat a little to pay for something, they place very little value on it and it's considered a disposable commodity.
It is well worth getting a lawyer to do a simple contract for you. You can also google it and see what you come up with. But should be easy to maybe even barter with a small contract law practice in your neighborhood or town.  |