Are #Customers Taking Advantage of You?

You likely got in business recently or years ago in order to be your own boss, something millions of people likely wish they could do.

That being the case, you know that you have a lot of responsibilities on your plate in running a business.

One of those responsibilities is making sure that you have customers meeting their end of the bargain when doing business with you, notably paying you in a timely manner.

In the event some of your customers are late with their payments for products and/or services they purchase from you, it can throw your financial situation into chaos, something that can ultimately put your business success in danger of failing.

When it comes right down to it, do some of your customers take advantage of you?

Keeping a Healthy Financial Situation

So that you and your business can lessen the chances of running into financial difficulties, make your financial well-being a top priority.

While there are different ways to go about this, some should come to mind rather quickly.

First, make it clear to customers (current and potential ones) how your business operates.

Is it one where payment is necessary at the time of a purchase or can the individual be billed?

Two examples of how this can differentiate would be the following:

• On-time payment – Customer makes a product or service purchase either in-person or online. It is then required of the customer that they pay either in cash or by credit/debit card for the purchase at that time;
• Billing the individual – Customer agrees to a service and/or purchase, the business owner then bills them with understanding that payment should be made within reasonable amount of time (typically less than 30 days). If customer does not pay within the given time frame, they are usually billed again, perhaps a couple of times. If they still have not paid up by then, they may get a bill and notice noting that they could be passed along to a collection agency.

Where’s My Payment?

If your business is running into the problem of customers taking their good old time to getting around to paying you, another option you have is turning to an invoicing factoring company.

Simply put; such businesses are there to help those companies having trouble getting customer payments in a timely manner.

The invoicing factoring company will take on those troubled accounts receivables, in turn providing the business owner with the necessary funds to meet their own financial responsibilities.

For various businesses nationwide, factoring companies can be the solution, so don’t hesitate to check into them for your business needs.

Another important facet of on-time payments is making sure your invoicing needs don’t falter at any one point and time.

Yes, customers are responsible for making sure they pay you for any product and/or service you provide, but it is still your responsibility to be sure the invoicing is done in a timely manner for those purchases not requiring onsite payments.

If you are having trouble keeping up with your invoicing needs, this can easily lead to financial issues with you and customers.

Depending on the size of your business, you may or may not need to hire someone to oversee your billing duties.

For those running businesses on their own (be it out of their homes or a small office space), they may hire someone (typically part-time) to help them with their financial books.

If that scenario doesn’t work for you, you can always consider bringing on someone full-time to handle such needs.

Either way; making sure invoices are sent out on time, customers pay their bills on time, and all the numbers add up when it comes time to do your business taxes, these are three financial priorities that you can never take for granted.

Finally, going out of your way for your customers is perfectly fine (actually encouraged in many respects).

The key should always be making sure that your customers do not take advantage of the one-on-one relationships you have with each and every one of them.

Review your finances on a regular basis, looking to see if your business is coming up short.

As a business owner, how do you make sure that your customers pay you in a timely manner?

About the Author: Dave Thomas covers business topics on the web.