Thinking about it, she is right.

I love to live my life my way, work the way I want to work, regularly ignore advice given by people who have never done anything themselves, enjoy my work, enjoy my financial independence, enjoy the security of my business, and I could go on and on.

I’m most definitely unemployable – proud of it! How about you?

In a recent survey by Hilton-Baird Collection Services only 18% of businesses claimed that they had experienced no delay in payments from their own customers. This is a worrying statistic, especially during a time of economic uncertainty. What is more alarming is the fact that only 1 in 4 would consider implementing additional interest on late payment amounts. However, many companies that took part in the survey said that they are going to, or have, implemented certain procedures and operations to deal with the issue of late payment.

The majority of businesses chased up unpaid invoices by constantly reminding them using phone, email and letter. Others went as far as getting a solicitor involved to write the professional letter, however this was defined to extreme circumstances where the debt due was of a large amount and the delay in payment had spanned over a long duration.

Other measures included suspending work or services until the debt is cleared. This is a particularly beneficial strategy to use, especially if a trusting and reliable relationship has been created between the company and the customer. Out of the 683 businesses who were surveyed, 70% of them claimed that this process was either already in place or about to be implemented.

One measure that is commonly overlooked is that of customer credit a check, completed prior to the agreement being confirmed. Whilst this may seem the ideal solution and a realistic plan for the future, a number of businesses commented that they would feel uncomfortable following this procedure.

It is not surprising that the main reason behind the issue of late payment is that customers were waiting for payments from their own clients. This domino effect can cause unfortunate outcomes for those companies involved. Insolvency and debt management plans are fast becoming common occurrences for small businesses, especially those who operate in the construction sector.

Although companies are attempting to find new ways of controlling their credit, the issue of late payment is still well and truly upon small businesses. For CEOs and company directors, the need to implement further measures to hit this problem head on has never been more pressing. Despite the doom and gloom that the recession has caused, good spells are almost certainly around the corner is a heightened sense of credit control can be achieved.

GUEST BLOG: This is a guest post by Nicola Winters on behalf of Cooper Matthews, who offer straight forward insolvency advice for businesses who are struggling financially, including IVAs, CVA.s and pre-pack administration.

Business success is when you have more time for your family.
Business success is when you make more money for yourself.
Business success is when you enjoy getting up and going to work.
Business success is when you and your family are financially independent.
Business success is when you can sleep at night without financial worries.

Business success is personal, what is it to you?

You don’t need me telling you to start a business, just do it!

When a government uses terms like SME in connection with public procurement and excluded over 70% of SMEs from this process, what is that?

When a government uses terms like SME in connection with reducing red tape and then passes legislation that disadvantages small and micro businesses, what is that?

Spin or Lie?

When Tony Robinson OBE; yes I also have the joy of dragging around Leonara Soculitherz’s hapless and hopeless agent though I have to say I find him a joy to work with and not half as stupid as she makes out – maybe this is because I also own a fleece (only for skiing purposes before anyone calls the fashion police) – anyway where were we? When Tony and I launched Enterprise Rockers, the global movement to make life in micro business better and fairer, I pledged only to buy from Independents – Retailers, Service Providers, Restaurants, Hotels etc etc the list is endless though of course there are a number of exceptions where this is not possible but then I look for the organisations that offer great customer service or just get me from A to B as quickly & cheaply as possible (planes/trains)

So since January of this year I have been ‘Shopping with the Indies’ and what a joy it has been. We are very lucky in my home town of Scarborough, UK to have a long established family owned supermarket group, Proudfoots, who are forward thinking and very supportive of local food producers so that solves that problem and beyond food it is amazing what you find when you have to rule out high street stores.

I have to say if I ring somewhere I don’t know to make a booking or an enquiry about the things they sell the conversation usually starts with ‘Hello can I ask are you independently owned’ and once the person on the other end realises I am not completely barking mad it makes for some great dialogue while they bestow on me the benefits of their business.

Through my Enterprise Rockers work and my Indie obsession I have met a great lady called Clare Rayner. Clare is a retail champion (for all different types of retail not just Indie) and she heads up the Independent Retailer Month that takes place across the UK in July. Originally a USA initiative it crossed the water and started in the UK in 2011 and this year it is really gaining momentum thanks to Clare’s guidance and the merry band of supporters and sponsors that are involved. If you are an Independent Retailer reading this blog and have not already registered to take part in Independent Retailer Month 2012 might I suggest you head straight to independentretailermonth.co.uk and do so now (if you are reading this in the States then independentretailermonth.com is the place for you) . These websites not only provide an opportunity to promote your business for free but to get useful hints and tips about running your retail business.

Of course if you don’t own an independent retail business I am guessing you still need to shop so why not visit the either website and do a search for both online and offline retailers; trust me shopping with the Indies is great fun and in many cases these businesses are micro businesses – Happy Shopping everyone!

Top 5 Tips posts from the SME Blog are always full of hints and tips for small, home & micro business owners.

1. Let people know the story behind your business. Many people support small businesses purely because of the people who are in charge of them and knowing about the struggles they go through.

2. Engage with your customers on social media. However, a dead social media page that is never updated will put off potential customers and make them wonder where you have disappeared to, so don’t commit to it unless you are sure you will be able to keep it regularly updated.

3. Look at what your competitors are doing online and keep up to date with developments in their business. This will allow you to react faster when it is time to make a change in your business.

4. Make sure that your business is supported by the software it requires to makes it successful. Bespoke software is often the wisest choice for a small business.

5. Give your customers more than they expected. You should always attempt to exceed expectations rather than just doing the bare minimum.

Business to business relationships or business to consumer relationships?

We all use social media, have we learned nothing? Are you social with Siemens, just because you bought their washing machine?

I should think not.

You may be social with the people who recommended the Siemens washing machine, your friends or family.

It is no longer about B2B or B2C, it’s all about People to People (P2P)!

Can’t argue with that, can you?

While Maggie kick-starts the household at 7am or earlier I go to our office (unless I am on a book project then it is 5am) and fire up the 5 year-old Dell Vostro 1710 laptop that has had a dead battery for an age but is still cutting the mustard. When I bought it direct from Dell I had it loaded with extra muscle which cost a lot but has been worth it. The evolution of computers means, of course, that standard laptops are more powerful, but we don’t want or need to change it yet. I back everything up on to a separate hard drive once a month, which is nowhere near frequent enough, but I also use Gmail to send myself basic stuff on a regular basis for further piece of mind.

Software?  Not a lot. I use Word for correspondence and raising all our invoicing(I know, I know), Excel to keep track of orders/sales/olive oil shipments, Gmail for our key clients contact info, WordPress to run our website, and Photoshop Elements to prepare photographs to accompany my articles and blogs.

Does that sound familiar?

It all keeps me on my toes and it devours time, not least the treble checking in case I have missed an order or anything, and errors happen. One ridiculous example: To ensure I have numbered an invoice in sequence I have to cross check with our Excel spreadsheet all the time.  Remember, we are talking about a two/three people business that has three threads – olive oil exporting (in Catalan and English), a holiday business and writing assignments -  so we are dealing in variable VAT rates or not at all, different languages and different spreadsheets.

We have reached this point because these are simple software systems we know. They cost little and it we have patched  it all together to make it work, but it turned into a quilt of alarming complexity and weight and we have less and less time to grow the business and to enjoy growing the business.

As for our accounting and VAT, this might make you smile. We have ledgers. Yes, a sharp pencil and a rubber and reading glasses on the end of my nose. For several days at the end of every quarter I plough through everything and take these ledgers to our Catalan accountant. There are four ledgers because we are both self employed (income and expenditure ledgers for each of us).  In truth, there is something edifying and important about sifting the paper and carefully assessing each quarter in this way, away from a computer, but maybe we will look at the online service too.  It is not a priority for me, for the reasons I have stated. Maybe it’s my age.

An aside – when I bought our computer I rang Dell in Madrid and spoke to a highly efficient and helpful Moroccan who then arranged for my Polish built computer to be loaded with my selected programmes in Ireland before being sent to me here in Catalonia.

More about our evolution next time.