There are a lot of things in business that feel like the responsible thing to do, but when you actually run the numbers — or worse, track the time and emotional energy involved — they stop making sense very quickly.
Sending people to collections is one of those things.
On paper, it sounds reasonable. Someone owes you money. You provided a service. They didn’t pay. There must be a system to make this right, right?
In reality, collections are less about recovering money and more about how much of your limited time, energy, and attention you’re willing to sacrifice for money you may never see anyway.
And after doing this long enough, I’ve decided very clearly: it’s not worth it.
The Money I’ll Probably Never Collect
Over the years owning a coworking space, I’ve had several people rent office space from me and rack up unpaid invoices totaling thousands of dollars each. Not $50 here or $70 there. Real money.
Money that, technically, I could go after.
The only realistic ways to do that are collections agencies or small claims court.
Collections agencies require you to find one willing to work with you, complete a significant amount of paperwork, and then — if they manage to recover anything at all — they typically keep around 50%. So best case scenario, I spend hours of my time and maybe get half of money that was already owed to me.
Small claims court sounds more appealing until you actually understand how it works. You file paperwork. You show up for a court date. You get a judgment.
And then… you still have to do the work.
You have to track down employers. File garnishments. Send subpoenas. Follow up. Chase paperwork. Potentially repeat the process multiple times.
All of that for a couple thousand dollars.
Yes, it’s annoying. Yes, it feels unfair. Yes, it’s money I earned.
But business decisions don’t get made based on what feels fair. They get made based on return on investment.
And the ROI on chasing that money is terrible.
The Part That Changed Everything
Here’s the most interesting part.
In both cases where someone owed me thousands of dollars for dedicated office space, the moment I removed them from the office — I rented that same office to someone else almost immediately.
For more money.
In one instance, I had to physically pack up a client’s belongings so I could repaint the office and resell it. She was furious. Indignant. Shocked.
Which was fascinating, considering she hadn’t paid me in two or three months and had been chronically late for almost a year.
Somehow, in her mind, this arrangement was going to continue indefinitely.
And that’s when something clicked for me.
When you’re too understanding for too long, people start to believe the rules don’t apply anymore.
That’s not malice. That’s human nature.
Being Nice Isn’t the Same as Being Sustainable
I don’t think these people are evil. I don’t think they set out to screw me over. I genuinely believe they didn’t have the money.
And early on, I gave them grace. A lot of it.
“I’ll get you next week.”
“I’m getting paid soon.”
“I’ll catch up next month.”
I believed them. Partly because I wanted to. Partly because I was new. Partly because I thought being flexible made me a good business owner.
In reality, being too nice and being too inexperienced combined into a very expensive lesson.
Those balances didn’t become thousands of dollars overnight. They grew slowly because I allowed them to.
That part is on me.
And that’s not shame — that’s clarity.
Clients Are People Who Pay You
I have plenty of people who owe me small amounts of money. At my coworking space, we offer virtual mail plans in the $30–$70 range. I have had dozens of clients that just stopped paying for those plans and now owe on their contract. And honestly? That doesn’t bother me the same way.
Those are virtual products. If someone doesn’t pay, I’m not really out anything tangible.
Dedicated office space is different.
That office cannot be shared. It cannot be resold. I can’t give it to someone else while their belongings are in it. It is actively blocking revenue.
Once I understood that, my definition of “client” changed.
Clients are people who pay me.
If you’re not paying me, you are not my client.
That doesn’t make you a bad person. But it does mean our business relationship is over.
The Rule I Have Now
Here’s my policy now, and it’s very simple:
If you are more than 30 days past due, your membership is canceled.
I don’t negotiate it. I don’t extend it. I don’t beg. I don’t chase.
I am not sending you to collections — but I am also not continuing to work with you.
Grace has a deadline.
That boundary alone has saved me more money, time, and stress than any collections agency ever could.
Time Is Your Most Expensive Resource
At some point, you realize that the real cost isn’t the unpaid invoice.
It’s the mental load.
The follow-ups.
The resentment.
The stress.
The hours spent thinking about it.
There are only so many hours in the day. I have a business to run. Bills to pay. A family I want to spend time with.
Every hour I spend chasing someone who doesn’t have money is an hour I’m not doing something that makes money.
Posting content.
Writing blogs.
Networking.
Improving systems.
Doing bookkeeping.
Sleeping.
Literally anything else is a better use of my time.
This Applies to More Than Just Invoices
This mindset doesn’t stop at unpaid bills.
In business, you should constantly be evaluating what is making you money — and what is wasting it.
Advertising and marketing are the biggest examples.
If you’re spending money on Google Ads and getting one or two leads a month, but Meta performs better for you, that matters.
If people are pushing print advertising and you know — in your gut and in your data — that nobody is reading print anymore, that’s information.
The hard part is that you don’t know any of this without testing.
Every market is different. Every business is different. Every owner’s risk tolerance is different.
You have to spend time and money experimenting. You have to look at the data. And then — this is the part most people struggle with — you have to actually act on it.
Letting go of what isn’t working is a skill.
This Is a Moving Target
New business owners often think once they “figure it out,” they’re done.
Seasoned business owners know better.
Everything changes.
Markets shift. Platforms evolve. Costs rise. Consumer behavior changes. Your own capacity changes.
The job is never done.
You’re not failing because something stopped working. You’re just being reminded to reevaluate.
The Point of All of This
This isn’t about being heartless.
It’s about being realistic.
You are not required to exhaust yourself chasing money that may never come.
You are allowed to stop doing things that don’t make sense anymore.
If something is draining your time, energy, and focus — and not paying you — that’s not a moral dilemma. It’s a business decision.
You already know what’s not working.
The question is whether you’re ready to stop pretending it will eventually fix itself.