10-07-2007
UK SMEs have no contingency plans for coping with bad debt
A study by Bibby Financial Services has revealed that 56% of small business owners rely solely on their overdraft facilities and person savings to cope with late paying customers.
In addition, only 8% of the respondents have bad debt insurance and 42% rely purely on the threat of legal action to make customers pay on time.
The provisions you have to accommodate bad debts and late paying customers could be the difference between your business surviving or sinking
David Robertson, chief executive of Bibby, said: “Relying on savings, overdrafts and the threat of legal action is a risky strategy and not a stable platform on which to build a business. No matter how good relationships are with customers and suppliers, late payment and bad debt are a fact of business life and burying your head in the sand won’t make them go away,”
Simply Business offers a simple solution for late payment and bad debt problems. Invoice finance solutions give you cash upfront using your invoices as security and they can take on your bad debt for you leaving you free to use the working capital to develop your business.
The Simply Business service is fast and easy. Just fill in a quick form to receive free, impartial quotes from a range of invoice finance providers. A personal, confidential conversation with one of our consultants follows to ensure we are putting you in touch with the service that best matches your business needs.