Freelancers: how to make sure you always get paid

Ask any freelancer in Douala or Yaoundé about their worst client and you will hear the same story: the work was delivered, the client went quiet, and the final payment never came. Not because the work was bad, but because once the client had the files there was nothing left to make them pay. Here is how to structure every job so that never happens again.

The rule: money before work, held by neither of you

The old advice was "always take 50% up front". It helps, but it only protects half the job, and it asks a new client to trust you with their money before they have seen anything. Escrow fixes both halves. The client funds the full amount (or the full milestone) before you start. You can see it is there. They cannot take it back. You deliver, they approve, you are paid the same day.

Neither side has to trust the other. You both trust the process.

Break the job into milestones

For anything over a few hundred thousand francs, do not run it as one deal. Split it into stages that each produce something the client can look at:

• Website: design mockups (30%), working build (50%), launch and handover (20%).
• Branding: concepts (40%), final logo and files (40%), brand guide (20%).
• Video: script and storyboard (25%), first cut (50%), final delivery (25%).
• Writing: outline (20%), first draft (50%), final edit (30%).

Each milestone is funded before you start it and released when it is approved. If the client disappears after milestone two, you have been paid for milestones one and two and you stop. No unpaid work, no chasing.

Write the brief into the deal

Most payment disputes are really scope disputes: "that is not what I asked for" versus "that is exactly what you asked for". The fix is to put the brief in writing inside the deal itself, so that if there is ever a dispute the mediator has something to judge against. Keep it short and concrete:

• What is being delivered (five-page website, three logo concepts, a 90-second video).
• What format it comes in (Figma file, PNG and SVG, MP4 at 1080p).
• How many rounds of revisions are included.
• The inspection window - how many days the client has to review before release.

A client who will not agree to a written brief is telling you they want to keep the definition of "done" flexible. That flexibility only ever runs one way.

How to ask a new client for escrow (without sounding difficult)

Freelancers sometimes worry that asking for escrow makes them look distrustful. Frame it the other way round - it protects the client too:

"I work through Bizik escrow on all projects. You fund each milestone before I start, so I know the budget is real, and you only release it once you have approved the work, so you are never paying for something you have not seen. It takes two minutes to set up and I can send you the deal link now."

Good clients like this. It means they are not sending money to a stranger either. The clients who push back hard are usually the ones you would have ended up chasing.

What if the client says the work is not good enough?

Then you have a conversation, and if the conversation fails, you have a dispute. The money stays in escrow while a Bizik mediator compares what you delivered against the brief in the deal. If you delivered what was agreed, you get paid. If you did not, the client is refunded or the amount is split. Either way it is settled within 48 hours on evidence, not on who is more stubborn.

This is the part that changes how you work. You stop softening your prices to avoid conflict and start writing clearer briefs.

Getting paid, then getting the money out

When a milestone is released, the money lands in your Bizik wallet. From there you can withdraw to MTN MoMo, Orange Money or a bank account, or hold it in USD or EUR if the client paid in a foreign currency and you would rather not convert yet. Clients abroad can fund deals by card, so you can take international work without asking anyone to figure out a wire transfer.

Start with the next job

You do not have to move existing clients over on day one. Start with the next new client, set up the deal in milestones, and see how much calmer the project feels when nobody is worried about the money. See how other freelancers use Bizik, or check what a deal costs.