by admin on October 13, 2009
How many times have I heard this? Well life is about to get worse as companies are going to have a valid excuse and I mean excuse rather than reason.
The Post Office workers are going on strike – I have lived through this in the past, it must be in the post office, I can’t cancel the cheque for six weeks, maybe they lost it in that strike.
Clients don’t seem to realise that it is their responsibility to pay, their responsibility to have the money in my hands by a certain date, and when that does not happen they have broken a contract. Dam simple. It is not my responsibility to chase you every day until you get sick of me and pay for goods or services that you have bought.
Since I left credit control as a full time job I now run my own business, and it is just as hard getting paid from customers as it was when it was a full time job. However now I am also the one chasing up the people that I sold to – so there should never be a reason for someone not paying me.
Today I just finished my monthly calling of outstanding monies, most, in fact all are fine – they just need a reminder. There is one company however that never pays one time and keep on asking for more than we agree at the beginning of any work. After this payment this customer is getting the sack.
I work on fairly tight margins and this means the cash must move freely in and out – when someone gets the job done for less than they would pay elsewhere and then takes up my time and head space by making me call him every week – this is not a customer I want to have.
One of the rules I started off having when I started my business that I would work with companies that I wanted to work with – if a company makes me chase them for payment – lying to me week in week out, they then become a company that I don’t want to work with.
I wish I could have made these types of decisions while I was a credit controller, but that is not the way life works.
by admin on October 5, 2009
In the wake of the most disastrous economic climate in recent memory, the world has really been brought to its knees. The recession and stock market crash of 2008 sent waves of change throughout most industries, as businesses and financial institutions tried to claw back to profitability. With the real estate bubble crippling the U.K. financial system, causing many large institutions to close their doors, consumers and businesses have both suffered.
The credit market has been one of the hardest hit in this time period. Although many financial giants are finally regaining their footing, they are more cautious than ever when it comes to lending. Consumers are finding it harder now than in the past to buy a house, a car or even apply for a low rate credit card. Those with perfect credit are even considered dangerous if they have not enough recent lending to show they are trustworthy customers. With consumers suffering from job losses and foreclosures, there seems to be little that can be done in the short term to rejuvenate the ailing economy.
The plight of the consumer is not where this ripple ends; businesses really suffer when spending slows. With less money being lent to potential buyers, small businesses are forced to seek more financial backing to be able to keep their doors open. The credit markets are just as dire, if not more so, for business lending as they are with consumer lending. Without ample collateral to back business loans, more companies are forced to file for bankruptcy in order to keep going.
Fortunately there are glimmers of hope on the horizon for the U.K. economy, and the world as a whole. It would appear, for the most part, that the recession is nearing its end. This being said, there is still a long road to full economic recovery. There may never be a time when businesses, and consumers, are able to borrow as they were before the economic collapse. We all hope for the time when the credit crunch has loosened its death grip on lenders. Only then can small businesses and consumers be able to obtain credit for the things they need, the things the U.K. economy needs to thrive.
