Monday, December 9, 2019

5 things a small business owner can do when a customer doesn't pay

For a small business owner, it is frustrating to deal with a customer who doesn’t want to pay or unable to pay or has simply disappeared after rendering your services. When you provide a service on credit or half payment, you trust the other person to withhold their side of the end and pay you back. When they don’t pay or are late in paying or refuses to pay, it can create a lot of problems for the business owner.
Debt or accounts receivables can create a lot of problems for small owners like a decrease in cash flow. And when your cash flow decreases, your business can go bankrupt or fail too.



There are a lot of things that you can like hiring a debt collection agency. One of the top collection agencies is Cedar financial; visit their LinkedIn page to know more about them. Other things that you can do are:

1. Remain calm
It is only human to feel frustrated and infuriated when we come across a customer or a client who doesn’t want to pay. But unfortunately, getting angry won’t help you it will only complicate matters. If you are angry and aggressive with the client, it can ruin your future relationship with him/her.

You have to maintain a calm head while dealing with non-paying clients.

2. Documentation is important
For a small business owner looking to collect a debt, it is important to document everything. Whether you are collecting the debt yourself or working with a third-party collector, make sure you have evidence of every phone call or contact with the debtor. It will help you build a legal case against the debtor in case he/she refuses to pay the debt altogether.

3. Make sure you know all the laws and your rights
Debt collection is a legal business, but all collectors and you, if you are collecting on your own have to follow some rules and regulations. If you don’t follow these rules, and work on recovering the debt blindly, you will be in legal trouble.

Thus, know what you can do and cannot do. The laws that protect the debtor also give you ample of space to collect the money that is rightfully yours. Like you can search for someone's social security number through a government agency, but you cannot harass a debtor or threaten him.

Knowing about the laws is crucial if you are not able to educate yourself on the same, hire a debt collector.

4. Don’t abuse or harass the customer
The worst thing that you can do is harass the customer or abuse him into paying the debt. Firstly, it is illegal and inhumane and secondly, it will destroy the reputation of the company.

5. Be open-minded when it comes to negotiation
You must consider negotiation, especially with a client who is honestly struggling financially. It is better for you too, as getting something is better than nothing. So, if the debtor is ready to pay a little less amount, accept it, in cases where the chances of recovering the full amount seem bleak.


You cannot avoid non-paying customers; you can only educate yourself to remain one step ahead of them.

No comments:

Post a Comment