My family has a clear, giant flower vase—I’m talking 2 feet high—that sits in the corner of the dining room. Every day, family members put any spare change we accumulate into the vase rather than bury it in dresser drawers or lose it. These quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies are both valuable and somewhat of… Read more »
A strong credit policy is the cornerstone of every successful business. If your policy is lacking clear criteria, discipline or limits, you may be exposed to unnecessary risk. Here are five steps you can take with your credit program to turn a potential weakness into a competitive advantage that protects and bolsters your bottom line.… Read more »
When managing your accounts receivable, do you have a one-size-fits-all approach to collecting late payments? Perhaps you shouldn’t. Every customer situation is different, and we advise companies to be strategic about how they collect. Specifically, they should make efforts to properly assess the true risk of not getting paid and also understand the relative profitability… Read more »
Your products, pricing, and customer relationships are likely the cornerstones of how you attract and keep your customers. But have you ever considered how your credit program could provide you with a strong competitive advantage? If you are like many companies, your credit program probably doesn’t make you think about growth and competitive advantage. In… Read more »
Underestimating credit risk can turn a healthy business upside down quickly, so there’s a lot riding on your ability to minimize your exposure. When it comes to assessing risk, looks can be deceiving. You’ve heard stories of customers who looked big and sounded solid but ended up being insolvent—causing a nightmare for the companies left… Read more »
You May Be Surprised That Some Actually Cost You Money Most suppliers precisely know their gross margins on a per-customer basis. Assume you’re a business with 40% gross profit margin. Of those 40 points, 25 are usually consumed by overhead, leaving you with a 15% net margin. Some suppliers are higher, some lower. Very few… Read more »
I was a victim of identity takeover a few years ago. In a big way. Professional fraudsters had hacked my personal email account, somehow figured out one of my recipients was my financial advisor, and researched my past communications to get a feel for how my financial advisor and I communicated. They managed to re-direct… Read more »
If you are selling to small and mid-sized companies, it’s a common (though often false) assumption that all your customers contribute to your earnings, and that it’s only a matter of how much. If you do make that assumption, it’s likely that you have averaged all your customers’ earnings contributions to your bottom line. However,… Read more »