Rule One of Business: Get Paid
Tuesday, May 25th, 2010Being paid, you would figure is vitally crucial at your business because if you don’t get paid, what’s the point in business?
You may be laughing at the number of business people who permit their customers to make payment when and if they feel like it. I know of a trader who continuously collects bad debts like accolades. Why, do you think? Probably because he doesn’t bring himself to request the money and people intimidate him.
If you let a customer credit, do it only because they have cleared their worth to you by paying cash on delivery (COD) for a time. Moreover, you must gauge whether they have the money to pay you – if they don’t then you should not do business with them. Don’t kid yourself into thinking “I need the work” or “I need the sales”. It’s damaging in doing the work or providing the goods for zip if you do not get paid.
If you are the kind of person who can’t request the fee after the job has been completed, try these cheats:
Tell your customer that when the work is done, you will require cash or cheque. They will more than likely have it on them at the point of sale and you will not need to demand your money.
When handing out the initial quote, be sure your payment terms are plain.
Create an invoice with your terms of payment simply listed and give the client the invoice when the service is done. They will review the invoice and generally know they can pay you the money now without you being required to say a word. Make up an “evil boss” who might skin you alive if you can not return with the fee for the job.
Arrange with your banking to set you up with Merchant facilities so you can accept credit cards for example Mastercard and Visa. The large part of people own credit cards and it could stop the issue of the customer not operating a cheque account or not having enough cash at the time.
Likewise, don’t be frightened to keep any goods til they have been paid for. Know, until the goods have been paid for, the goods are still yours.
If you decide to give somebody credit, make sure you get the following information from them at a time PREVIOUSLY you permit them credit.
- Name
- Address
- Phone number
- Bank name and address
- Account no.
- 3 trade references with their names, addresses and phone numbers
Once you take all this information, telephone the bank branch and make certain that they use an account there. Then, ring each trade reference and find out if they pay their fees on time or if they have any difficulties 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.
If you’re looking for a Brisbane web design company or Brisbane SEO company, talk to Search Tempo. Check out their SEO prices today.
Sphere: Related Content
Step 1: Do your research