Hi there all

I am a freelance graphic designer trading under the name Shout Out Graphics and I have been trading since November.

However I still haven't got to grips with how I take payment from clients. Ideally I want to draw up a quote and then charge the client 50% of this upfront. This protects me from spending time doing work and then have the client decide that they don't need or want the work anymore. I have wasted a lot of time this way.

Thing is most clients get a bit upity having to pay the 50% as they haven't seen any work yet. What is the usual practice? Are clients usually invoiced and pay at the end? I personally don't want to do this as I need to protect myself. What do you guys think is the right way to go about it?

Really would appreciate any in put

Sarah