Rule One of Business: Get Paid

To get paid, you would imagine is fundamentally crucial in your business because if you are not paid, what’s the point in business?

You may be laughing at the loads of business people who let their customer base to make payment when and if they get around to it. I am acquainted with such a tradesman who repeatedly holds bad debts like weeds. Why is that? Probably because he won’t bring himself to ask for the payment and allows people to overpower him.

If you permit somebody credit, only do it after they have cleared their integrity to you by paying cash on delivery (COD) for some period of time. Also, you should find whether they have the cash to pay you - if not then you should not do business with them. Don’t kid yourself into the pattern of “I need the work” or “I need the sales”. It’s pointless to do the work or providing the goods for zip if you aren’t getting paid.

If you are the sort of person who can’t ask for the fee even when the service has been done, try these hints:
Tell your customer that when the job is done with, you require cash or cheque. They will be likely to have it ready at the point of sale and you won’t have to demand your pay.

When handing out your quote, be sure your payment terms are understandable.

Do up an invoice that has the terms of payment plainly printed and hand the customer the invoice when the job is done. They will take the invoice and immediately understand they can pay the money now without you being required to say a word. Make up a “cruel boss” who would torture you alive if you don’t return with the money for the service.

Arrange with your bank to hook you up with Merchant facilities so you can take credit cards such as Mastercard and Visa. The majority of people use credit cards and it will stop the problem of the customer not holding a cheque book or not having the cash at the time.

As another option, don’t be persuaded against to keep hold on the promised goods until you’ve been paid. Understand, until the goods have been paid for, they still remain yours.

If you choose to permit a customer credit, make sure you get the following contact information of them at a point BEFORE you give them credit.

• Name
• Address
• Phone number
• Bank name and address
• Account no.
• 3 trade references with their names, addresses and phone numbers

When you know all this information, call the bank and make certain that they do use an account there. Then, call each of the trade reference and find out if they pay their invoices consistently or if there are any dilemmas with them.

Most people will be willing to tell you if the person is troublesome. If everything is OK, allow them a moderate level of debt, say no more than $500 (depending on your business). Monitor the operation of the account for a few months before allowing this amount to be exceeded.

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