JimLewis
03-07-2000, 12:50 AM
Wow! This last month has been awesome! Things are really starting to come together. It's a nice feeling because for the last few years I was constantly having challenges with money. Not necessarily due to money management as much as it was due to customers not paying or not paying on time. Finally, that burden has been lifted and the results are overwhelming! I just thought I'd share this because the changes I made over the last few months has had some pretty awesome results. <p>Our biggest challenge over the last few years was that a good percentage of customers would pay me late. At times we had anywhere from $1000 - $3500 still owed us when it came to payday for my employees. The customers would usually pay eventually, just not reliably. <p>So near the end of last year I had finally had enough. I made some big changes. First of all, I immediately got rid of all of the people who were consistent late payers or who were seriously past due. I am talking about people who were always 15 or more days late paying their bill. 15 days late isn't all that bad for one or two customers once in a while. But when 10 or 20 of them do it consistently, that sucks. So I got rid of most of them. A few I managed to work out some more definite payment terms with. But those that were drastically past-due (3-4 months) I just ditched all together. Typically, I would do it just after I had collected their balance due. <p>Then, for those who have consistently paid on time or early I rewarded them. I sent them a letter on New Years thanking them for their excellent payment history and for being one of our msot valued customers. I also included a $30 gift certificate (good for a clean-up, mulch, etc.) as a thank-you. That was a big hit. <p>Next, to prevent this from happening again, I found a local billing company who sets up automatic payment from people's checking accounts once every month. I sign up all of my new customers on that program. They get to pick the day payment is made. And since most of them pick the 15th (their middle of the month paycheck), I am actually now getting payments EARLY! That rocks! <p>So these last two months, when it came time for payroll (5 days after the due date for invoices), I had a few thousand left over after I paid all the bills and paychecks! That was a wonderful feeling! <p>Now maybe we can get down to business. Anyway, I don't say this all to brag. I know a lot of guys here have mentioned having this same problem and I wanted to give you hope. <p>This is gonna be a great year! <p>----------<br>Jim Lewis - Lewis Landscape Services<br>http://www.lewislandscape.com