Managing Finances London

Half of all new businesses fail during the first two years. All too often the cause of failure is not the quality of the product or service, the effort and talents of the people, or the sales and marketing. It is quite simply financial failure - running out of money - which leads to closure, if not bankruptcy.

In many cases, this failure could have been avoided by simple but effective planning from the outset. In too many new businesses well-qualified people enthusiastically develop their goods or services but pay insufficient attention to cashflow. Late payment erodes profits and stifles growth. A sale is not really made until it has been paid for.

The discipline of ensuring prompt payment is called credit control or credit management and it has to be a priority if a business is to succeed.

Granting credit to a customer involves the risk of non-payment and so should only be done after checking and assessing that risk. A bad debt means that a company could have to make sales five - or even ten – times the value of that bad debt just to recoup the loss. Research shows that the longer a trade debt remains unpaid the greater the risk that it will never be paid. For many companies, their receivables, the money owed to them by their customers, are their largest assets. Figures from BACS - the banks' automated clearing system - show that growth businesses have a combined overdraft of £4bn. Reducing the amount owed by debtors reduces the overdraft and frees up capital to be used to finance the business, and reduces the stress of running the business.

The basics

Making sure you are paid should start even before you have made your first sale. You could take some basic training. “Cashflow is one of the critical factors to success, the lifeblood of a business, and should be one of the top priorities,” says Ian Fletcher, chief economist, Association of British Chambers of Commerce.

Your local chamber of commerce will run training schemes in basic credit control, including such topics as how to collect a debt over the phone. These courses are open to non-members.”

The Government sponsored, Better Payment Practice Group (BPPG) was formed to reduce late payment of commercial debt and publishes advice on the subject. From the outset, establish procedures for credit applications by customers:

• Produce a credit application form: books or advisors will show you how
• Make credit terms very clear
• Ensure that all staff are aware of credit policy
• Make payment terms a condition of sale
• Make sure that any buyer signs agreeing to your credit terms.
• Then decide that you will receive prompt payment;
• Design a clear invoice which will always state agreed payment terms
• Decide from the outset that you will always send invoices promptly and keep paperwork up-to-date
• Establish a timetable for chasing debts, starting with the first request for payment – the invoice.

Payment should never be an afterthought. This way you wi...