Why We Built Paidd: Our Story
Running your own business is exciting, but if you’re a service provider you’ll know it’s not always easy. My wife and I learned this first-hand. Over a year ago, we started our own web design agency. We loved helping small businesses bring their ideas to life, but one problem kept holding us back: late payments.
No matter how much effort we put into delivering great work, cashflow was always a battle. Projects dragged on because feedback arrived late. Invoices went unpaid for weeks or months. We often found ourselves torn between chasing overdue bills and focusing on the work we actually loved. Even when our turnover looked respectable on paper, the reality was a constant struggle to keep the business thriving.
At one point—about ten months in—I turned to my wife and said: “If e-commerce businesses can get paid upfront before they even ship a product, why can’t service businesses do the same?” She looked at me like I was speaking another language. But that was the moment the idea for Paidd was bo
The Problem We’re Solving
Our Solution: Structure, Contracts & Payment Support
We believe that clients respect structure—and businesses thrive when expectations are clear. That’s why Paidd is designed to bring an e-commerce mindset to the service industry.
and endless project delays. The truth? It’s happening everywhere. From freelance designers and developers to agencies and consultants, so many service-based businesses are stuck in a cycle of waiting to be paid.
- Clear contracts from the start
- Defined timelines for projects and deliverables
- Built-in payment milestones (like buy-now-pay-later for services)
The result? Providers get paid on time and can focus on doing their best work. Clients get the services they want without the endless back-and-forth or the stress of late invoices. Everyone wins.
Why Now
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make up 60% of the UK’s workforce and generate £2.8 trillion in turnover. Yet so many of us face the same challenges when it comes to cashflow and payment delays. Even the UK government has recognised this problem—recent initiatives like the £4 billion “Plan for Change”, the 69,000 Start-Up Loans programme, and new late payment rules from the Department for Business & Trade (DBT) are designed to help businesses like yours thrive in a fairer system.
We see Paidd as a natural partner in this mission. By bringing transparent payment structures and fair terms into everyday service work, we’re helping level the playing field for small businesses everywhere.
Whether you’re a freelancer tired of chasing invoices, or a growing agency ready to scale with confidence, Paidd is here to make late payments a thing of the past.