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So far, I've had a policy of never being owed more than I could collect in small claims court.

Two reasons: If it doesn't happen, I have two options a) drop it, it's only $3000 here, or b) Take them to court w/o a lawyer, and very small court costs.

Is this moderately viable?

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If you charge a reasonable rate, not really, unless you always ask for payment before you complete work. Let's say you charge 100$/hr. That means you are going to demand payment before you complete a full week of work. Say you charge $50/hr. Now you are demanding payment (in hand/check cashed) before two full weeks of work. Good luck finding a company/client who will pay you on that schedule.

Yeah, most of my consulting is really low-quantity in the hours arena, as it's not my main income stream. Anything more than a week f/t I'm really careful with.

I meant more viable from a legal standpoint I think.

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