One of the not so fun facts of being in business is the soul-destroying fact that some people will try not to pay you. No matter what industry you are in, if you give credit, you run the chance of not being paid.
In 2015 the rate of consumer debt was up, there were 1692 consumer judgements in the courts for the first 6 months of 2015, that was a 6 per cent rise on 2014 and the figure keeps rising.
However the news is not all bad, in the same time period, there was an evident fall in the value of commercial judgements, 25% compared with 2014. The figures are now one third of what they were in the period of mid recession 2009, this has to be good news.
We all know the problems that your customers not paying you, can cause you in the day to day running of your business. When it comes to the crux of the matter, if you don’t get paid, you can’t pay your suppliers, therefore you cannot stock your shelves, cannot increase sales of products and therefore sales fall, turnover falls and it’s a downward spiral.
If you make one New Years resolution and stick to it, make it this one:
‘To engage proactive credit control practises’
May this be your mantra for 2016