News broke sometime ago on Instagram. Freeze called out a certain lady, Kibati, for refusing to pay him for an event appearance/ performance.
The lady in question, argued that she didn’t owe him a dime. Apparently she had reached out to him about a joint appearance with him and DJ exclusive. He pegged their “joint” fees at 900,000 naira (I think) and the plan was to get paid 500,000 naira upfront.
DJ Exclusive is reported to have cancelled his appearance (I guess because payment hadn’t come in as scheduled).
According to kibati’s argument, she stylishly stalled freeze, hoping he’ll take a hint and walk away too but guess what? Freeze showed up and freeze “performed” with Gideon.
It’s been a few weeks since and he hasn’t received any payment; which he has now been told he isn’t being owed.
In freeze’s counter argument, he shows when he was contacted and practically begged to help support the event. He also shows an email with a list of questions he is expected to answer (or attempt to answer) at the scheduled event.
There’s no cancellation email. (Well, both parties didn’t put up any)
It’s good to be nice you know! However being nice isn’t good for business. From time to time, certain customers, find and use your mumu button. Experience shows that’s this type of customers come packing a lot of wahala (trouble) disguised underneath a lot of contagious smiles. They promise heaven and earth at the point of agreement (verbal or otherwise), get you to give a little more discount, bend your rules a little etc and then show you H-E-L-L when it’s time to pay up.
So here are a few policies you must NEVER bend….
1. Always Collect at least 70-80% of your payment upfront.
2. Always Collect your balance before you dispatch or upon delivery
3. If your mumu button has been pressed. Refer to 1 and 2 above 
I strongly believe that as at the time a potential customer is in negotiations with you, they already have the funds.
So, one-man business or not, make it your Mantra this year, to run your business with standards (systems and structures).
This is the only way you can measure as well as plan your company’s growth.
