Witold writes:

>> If you know about innovative ways to collect last
payment please advise.<<

I solved this one years ago as a tradesperson. It never fails, although I
doubt if it could be described as "innovative", perhaps "practical" is more
like it.  For any new client I get an advance payment that is at least as
large as the final payment and as large as any interium payment. I keep up on
my interium billings and if payments are not flowing through I can stop work
at any time and still have full payment to date in hand. Occasionally I have
slipped up, but am still covered by a contingency fund I have built up over
the years with a very small percentage of overhead. Sort of like self-
insurance against non-payment. All this grows out of practical business
management that I began learning when I was a newspaper delivery boy when I
was 12.

Mechanic's liens are far too complicated and almost entirely out of the
control of the person who is supposed to be in control. This is why they
seldom work.

For more on business practice you (or others) might be interested in the two-
day workshop, The Business Side of Preservation, I am giving for The
Preservation Institute the end of June in Vermont. For more info see my
website listed below.

John Leeke, Preservation Consultant

26 Higgins St., Portland, Maine 04103, USA
207 773-2306 (phone and fax)
Practical Restoration Reports, Publisher
Website: www.HistoricHomeWorks.com
Old-House Journal, Contributing Editor
AOL: HouseNet, Historic HomeWorks, Pundit, [log in to unmask]