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Titled: Small Business Owners Can Safely Offer Credit Get the Small Business category RSS Feed

Small Business Owners Can Safely Offer Credit

Article Summary: The worst thing that can happen to a small business owner is to do hard work and not receive the money. Offering credit can be a good way for a business to get orders for their goods or services, but only when done the right way. With the information in this article you should be able to safely offer credit to customers, knowing that you will be paid on time, if not early.

If you have ever done a job and completed it to the satisfaction of your customer and not been paid for it you know this is the worse thing that can happen. Ity is something you willnever want to have happen again.

The first thing you can do is to do thorough credit check before you offer credit. Before you give anyone credit you should make them complete a credit application, perform credit checks, and get at least two trade references. Most people and companies understand the need for this information and will gladly give it to you. It is important for you to remember that credit is a privilege and not a right, so be firm on this.

You need to send an invoice out the day that you complete the service or send the goods. Always try to send a copy with the products and to the acounts payable department to make sure they have received it. Your shipping Bill Of Lading should have all the shipping information, product codes and should include a copy of the invoice.

Make sure that you get the name of the person who the account is payable through. If you have the company, fill out a credit application form than you should have the name of that person already. It is possible that you will speak to a number of people and get varying responses, but if you speak to the same person each time and keep notes of your conversations they will be accountable for the payment.

You should call and ask about the payment on the day that it is due. At this point there isn't a problem so there's no need to be aggresive. What you are doing is encouraging a slow payer to pay on time. The conversation can start with quality assurance questions such as, did they get the product on time, was the work done to your satisfaction or let them know the special steps you may have taken to assure they were satisfied. If all is well you can casually ask when you can expect payment. By making the conversation about them and their needs it will be easier to get what you need.

The final way to encourage a person to make a payment on time, or early, is to offer them a discount. By offering a discount of 5% if the bill is paid early you will encourage the company to pay early. Before offering any discounts make sure it is something you can afford. You can place this offer on the original invoice and on any shipping papers. Let them know up front that they can save money by paying early.

Not being paid for your services is one of the worst things that can happen to a small business owner. Offering credit can be a good way for a business to get orders for their goods or services, but only when done the right way. With the information in this article you should be able to safely offer credit to customers, knowing that you will be paid on time, if not early.

Article Source: http://www.upublish.info

About the Author:
Stephen Meyer
Stephen Meyer is an experienced home based business owner and oprovides many small business opportunties and ideas and can help those interested to become successful. To see his many small business ideas and opportunities please visit his Small Business Ideas website