Xero found 62% of small businesses didn’t think they’d survive more than 3 months if their invoices went unpaid, and other studies found the longer you wait, the less likely you’re going to collect the cash. The types of things I’d cover would include:
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- The importance of structure and consistency: all small business owners are busy but it’s critical to become disciplined in this area because it’s crucial to their survival, as is applying consistent process and pressure on all outstanding debtors to repay.
- A suggested process: what to do 2 days after a bill is sent, 7 days after, one week overdue etc.
- Suggestions on how to screen potential customers e.g. starting with payment in advance, milestone payments, credit checks, google searches, warning signs to look for.
- The importance of being up-to-date with their sector/industry, because the grapevine is usually a valuable source of information on who’s struggling to pay their bills.
- When to move on and what to do if a customer continues not to pay up