[Caleb Morley]

Im owed approx £600 by customers.

Any ideas on improving cashflow?

btw - i give all my customers a receipt that has 4 ways to pay - online banking/bank transfer, cheque(i leave an SAE), Paypal and cash on the day if im there. My receipt stipulates payment within 7 days.

I send chaser texts after 30 days non payment but some just dont seem bothered about paying on time.

Cheers,

Caleb

[elite mike]

chase them relentlessly caleb,i had thought about going down the online route of paying

but after reading lots of posts on this subject ,i will stick with collecting pain that it is 

its worked well for over 30 years 

[Frankybadboy]

is that all

[elite mike]

is that all

on yer bike 

[Frankybadboy]

is that all

on yer bike 

running to day mike of racing in a minute or two

[colin purewater]

I'm the same as you mate owed less tho,
I put 7 days on invoice and chase after 10 days,
Persistent late payer I no dont offer them invoice bacs/
Send a cheque etc. I ask them to leave cash or cheque
on the day or I don't clean, speeds them up or I just dump them
And tell them the reason. Commercial
Is another matter.... They just don't wana pay no matter what
I do.  Got a well known Fried chicken company who ow me
4 months!! Will be suspended at next invoice as I have run out of options

Thanks Colin

[Tom White]

chase them relentlessly caleb,i had thought about going down the online route of paying

but after reading lots of posts on this subject ,i will stick with collecting pain that it is 

its worked well for over 30 years 

Mike, mix it up.  I will collect from compact areas, but for standalone accounts; which I do a lot of in sticks; I'll do SAE or bank transfer.

[elite mike]

chase them relentlessly caleb,i had thought about going down the online route of paying

but after reading lots of posts on this subject ,i will stick with collecting pain that it is 

its worked well for over 30 years 

Mike, mix it up.  I will collect from compact areas, but for standalone accounts; which I do a lot of in sticks; I'll do SAE or bank transfer.

hi tosh

thankfully mine is compact 

hows that van going , any more dents and did you find out who done it the first time?

give my regards to helen .

[Tom White]

No more dents; didn't find out who did the hit 'n' run; and Helen's great, she's off out running as we speak. 

Hope all is well with you and yours!

[keyser soze]

i realised after being in this game that  custys treat you as their least priority . but on a plus side sometimes you get loads pay at once. some of my commercial doesnt pay for months on end , i couldnt get my head around that but decided to except its part and parcel of the way it is i guess,

[britishwill]

I have done it the wrong way and am owed approx 4-5k. I have been very relaxed in the past but as soon as my little un came into the world I have needed every penny. I will not be relaxed again!

[bobplum]

phase out collecting as much as possible.
over the next few months convert as many as possible to Standing Orders.

start with one weeks work and concentrate for the next few weeks in getting as many as is possible to go to standing orders,then move on to the next week and so on

start with a letter explaining you are going over to standing orders due to high cost of collecting,explain that if people want to be collected the price goes up to cover the cost,point out the benefits of the standing order so on and so on and chip away at it over the summer months so by winter you will see the benefits.
you will probably loose some customers or in my opinion,you will loose some bad debtors, don't be afraid to loose some,just replace with new and when you take on a new customer its on standing order only no ifs or buts set out a strategy,a plan and stick to it if it means a small reduction in your income now it will pay dividends in the long run and it will save you money
What is the  percentage of debt compared to your turnover,£600 is small if you turn over £6000 a month but £600 is a lot if you turnover £1,500.
if you need a letter i am sure people on here can give you some pointers

good luck Bob

[Dave Willis]

Invest in a quality baseball bat.

[Ian101]

My debt list varies between 12% to 20% of total round value .... easy to find out if you run George.

As Bob says it depends if your round is £3000 a month or £6000 a month then £600 might not be an issue.

I think what is more important is the age of the debt eg if just done this week then not really a debt but anything over 30 days u got problems.

My oldest debt is £12 from January ... a repeat offender .. wasnt cleaned March (shes 2 monthly) but posted a reminder slip instead ... guess what no payment still ..... now an ex customer because if she cant be a rsed paying then I cant be a rsed cleaning .... simples  

I will get my money eventually and maybe ask for 3 cleans up front to keep her on the books.

Doing a leaflet drop Monday so will be replaced many times over within the week plus got a prospect to go and quote Tuesday anyway.

Looked at standing orders like my mate Bob but think I will find them too restrictive as to keeping to a tight schedule.

[Tom White]

Looked at standing orders like my mate Bob but think I will find them too restrictive as to keeping to a tight schedule.

What I do, if I'm late and have received two standing order payments for one clean, when I next tip up to clean, I refund the payment I've had in cash.

It feels ruddy weird though; you turn up, clean a house, and then pay the customer (or drop it through their letter box with a memo of explanation).

Once, a customer took the cash off me after I cleaned and said, "I'm sorry to tell you, but I'm putting the price up next month!" 

[bobplum]

on standing orders,i don't clean the date they pay so long as i clean once a month and they pay once a month then it balances out,i have just moved a lot from week two to week one to balance the round out and i dont clean to set dates,but its more or less within a day or two  each week


and were the hell is pontybodkyn

[Window Washers]

if only I was owed £600 I would be happy as a sand boy.

I run on a rolling debt as long as it is not as high as monthly turnover then I am happy, hard to do if starting out I agree or if money is really tight.

[Nathanael Jones]

My debt list is usually the same as 3 weeks takings or there abouts,... it can be a huge stress at times, as there seems to be a subconscious consensus amongst my customers and when one is late they all start to follow suit - only 2 of my commercial contracts paid in February. They always pay up eventually though,.. even if it does take solicitors letters.

[Paul Coleman]

Mine can be anything from about £800 to nearly £3k - quite a lot for a sole trader to carry.  When it's close to £3k though, it does mean that a number of big cheques/BACS transfers are imminent.  I sub contract bits for a few cleaning companies and tend to bill monthly.  With the bill I also send reminders.  This means that on a month when I've done more sub work than usual, quite a bit of money can be owing for maybe three weeks.

[GDwindowcleaning]

Years ago I worked on a directory for the building game that used to list bad payers in the industry, maybe there should be one for window cleaning....