When working with a client you don’t know very well, or don’t know them at all, it can be very tempting to accept the job based only on financial opportunity. I’ve seen many cases where this happens without even a contract in place. This turns out to be a major mistake for most of the businesses, as poorly defined terms of cooperation and plan of delivery can be interpreted independently from both sides and can lead to a misunderstanding later on.
When I left my job a few years ago to open my own company I wasn’t aware of the danger of unpaid bills. I learned that the hard way when I was left with no money at all. It wasn’t the clients fault, and I did a good job. All I needed to do is one little thing that later on helped me run business in years to come.