I did the interiors at Two Rivers Mall. I completed the work. I showed up every time I was supposed to show up.
I never got paid. And I had already used my own money.
That is the short version. Here is what it changed.
How It Happened
When an opportunity at that scale comes to you early in your career, you say yes. Two Rivers was one of the largest mall developments in East Africa at the time. You do not stop to negotiate the finer points of commitment and payment structures when something like that is in front of you. You get to work.
So I got to work. I used my own money to cover costs while I waited for payment. I kept going because stopping meant losing everything I had already put in.
By the time I understood what was happening, the work was done. The leverage was gone.
What It Actually Taught Me
I used to think that once you get into an agreement with someone, you can enter a site and start working. That a handshake, or a conversation, or someone’s word was enough to begin.
Two Rivers showed me it was not.
Not because everyone is dishonest. But because good intentions and a formal commitment are not the same thing. And by the time you find out the difference, you have already done the work.
The lesson was simple: before I start working on a design, before anything moves, someone has to have done something. A signed agreement. An upfront payment. Something that makes the project real on both sides, not just mine.
What Changed at Art Seed
When I started Art Seed, this was already built into how we work. We do not begin design without a signed contract. We do not mobilise on site without an upfront payment covering the first phase. We do not move to the next phase when the previous one has not been settled.
This has cost us clients. People who said their word should be enough, who felt we were being difficult before the project had even started.
Maybe their word would have been enough. But I already knew what it felt like to find out it was not.
The clients who push back hard on basic agreements before work begins are telling you something. I used to ignore that. I do not anymore.
One More Thing
I want to be clear about something. I do not think every client who does not pay sets out to take advantage of you. Some are disorganised. Some have their own cash flow problems they are managing. Some fully intend to pay and then circumstances change.
The intention does not matter by the time the project is done and the invoice is outstanding. What matters is whether you had a structure in place before anyone started working.
An agreement is not a sign of distrust. It is what makes a professional relationship real. Clients who are serious about building something with you will sign one without drama.
That is the test. It is not a complicated one.
Get commitment before you create.