RIABU - Tips and tools for getting paid on time by your customers

You've been supplying to a particular customer for many years and there's an established process that helps deliver the product or service and get paid on time. But what happens if things change at the customer end and their process suddenly becomes more complex. In this podcast, RIABU’s Simon Littlewood and Mark Laudi discuss how SMEs can deal with the difficult situation through customer intimacy, a relationship-building process that is a core element of RIABU’s Virtuous Revenue Cycle, and why having a cash flow forecast is important for your working capital.

More than half of the USA SMEs experienced late payments from large companies which significantly impacted their business, delayed hiring, and reduced their ability to recover from the pandemic. Late payments are a persistent dilemma for small businesses which affects their ability to maintain a steady cash flow and invest for the future. With about 31.7 million small business firms operating in the United States, accounting for 44% of US economic activity, what should these firms do to get paid on time? RIABU’s Simon Littlewood and Mark Laudi have some ideas. Read more about this topic here.

Around half of Australia’s big businesses are failing to pay small business suppliers on time. Despite ongoing efforts to reverse the tide, three reports - late payments, transactions, and a survey - show Australian SMEs are just treading water to survive, and with banks tightening their lending and government handouts having disappeared, the risk of survival has increased. What can SMEs do to get paid on time? RIABU’s Simon Littlewood and Mark Laudi offer some ideas. Read more about this topic here.

UK SMEs are struggling to operate efficiently as input costs are rising rapidly in the country, which is impacting their operating margin significantly. As a result, one in five SMEs is finding it difficult to pay their suppliers. In addition, one in four SMEs is facing late payments from their customers as they are also struggling with higher prices.   In this podcast, RIABU’s Simon Littlewood and Mark Laudi discuss how SMEs can focus on strengthening relationships with their customers by understanding their needs and wants, which can result in a faster collection of receivables and improved cash cycle. Read more about this topic here.  

The US interest rate received its highest increase since 1994 because the country's inflation reached a level not seen in the last 40 years. All these statistics are making headlines, but how does it impact SMEs? It means that economic conditions are deteriorating and the cost of doing business may increase further which may increase pressure on their margins.   In this podcast, RIABU’s Simon Littlewood and Mark Laudi discuss how SMEs can navigate the turbulent times ahead by giving particular attention to receivables and thereby increasing the cash cushion. Read more about this topic here.

Top-down ownership requires internal stakeholders to adopt a common culture where employees at all levels – from the boardroom to salespeople - are responsible for collecting cash from the customers. The cash collection process can be incorporated at all levels of the organization structure by providing proper training and accountability through KPI metrics. In this podcast, RIABU’s Simon Littlewood and guests, Yvonne Rankin Constantine, Director & Founder at Rankin Constantine Global Consulting, and Peter Hone, Rig Inspection Manager in the Asia Pacific and Southeast Asia, discuss the eight elements of RIABU’s Virtuous Revenue Cycle (VRC) which is a cycle of continuous improvement in service culture and delighting customers by anticipating and responding to their every need and ensuring that you get paid on time. Get more tips on effective cash flow management from our book, Let The Cash Flow. To find out more about how RIABU helps small businesses get paid on time, visit RIABU.com

In Australia, small businesses have been suffering from being paid late by large corporations for years, and the pandemic has made their cash situation even worse. But there is one method to help them get paid faster: clear communication. In this podcast, RIABU’s Mark Laudi and Anne Nalder, Founder and CEO of Small Business Association of Australia, discuss how communicating clearly with your customers can help your business get paid on time and improve your cash flow in this challenging environment.

While the world’s attention is focused on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, about 440,000 or 8% of the small businesses in the United Kingdom face insolvency from cash flow problems arising from higher operating costs and difficulties in getting invoices paid on time. In this podcast, Liz Barclay, UK Small Business Commissioner, and RIABU’s Mark Laudi, discuss the importance of the prompt payment code introduced by the UK government in 2008 to encourage large companies to commit to good payment practices, and how, barring a few outliers, the industry average of payment days has been improving. But Liz believes that more needs to be done. She emphasizes that a company’s board of directors have an ethical responsibility to pay invoices on time. To safeguard the sustainability of their suppliers, it must be a strategic decision rather than an operational one. This, in turn, helps all stakeholders because it enhances the supplier's bottom line, which attracts more investors and qualified workers. On the other hand, small businesses or suppliers lack negotiation skills and make a variety of invoicing errors. Liz points out that while digital technology has helped many small businesses save time and minimise the number of invoicing errors, it isn't the ultimate solution for getting paid on time. They must be bold and confident enough to propel their business forward by negotiating better payment terms with their customers.

Greenhouse gas is an issue for the whole world and large or small companies have an important role to play in reducing it, but until SMEs bring their cash flows in order, it may be difficult for them to make any meaningful contribution. RIABU’s Simon Littlewood and Mark Laudi have some ideas. Read more about this topic here.

Small businesses continue to face challenges like rising costs and lower demand, which are leading to higher bankruptcies across the globe. While the Chinese government is extending support to SMEs, the UK is moving in the opposite direction. Meanwhile, Eastern European businesses remain vulnerable to external border shocks. Listen to RIABU’s Simon Littlewood and Mark Laudi discuss what SMEs worldwide can learn from these different situations.

The UK government has recently withdrawn support measures that were introduced to help businesses survive during the pandemic, and this has led to rising insolvencies. RIABU'S Simon Littlewood and Mark Laudi discuss what this means and how effective cash flow management processes can tide businesses through this transitional moment. Read more about this topic here.

As the Covid-19 pandemic unfolded, governments and central banks all over the world acted swiftly, using massive amounts of monetary and policy support to prevent insolvencies. However, this temporary suppression of insolvencies may not last much longer, and the fragile companies kept afloat by emergency measures and weakened by the crisis are still on shaky ground. As companies prepare to greet a new year with more uncertainties, it is more important than ever to get their cash flow processes in order so that their businesses can stay standing. RIABU’s Simon Littlewood and Mark Laudi have some tips. Read more about this topic here.

Singapore and Hong Kong are often perceived as cities which feel a sense of competition with each other. And in one respect at least, Singapore is losing out. Xero, an accounting software company, revealed that US$3 billion worth of bills were unpaid to SMEs in Singapore, compared to Hong Kong's US$1.7 billion. Why might this be the case, and what can be done to help SMEs receive their payments more punctually? RIABU’s Simon Littlewood and Mark Laudi have some ideas. Read more about this topic here.

Chinese real estate company Evergrande is struggling to pay down its debt and maintain enough cash flow to stay afloat. And that means that its suppliers are also struggling. Late or non-payments from a large company can wreak havoc on their smaller suppliers, as Evergrande's suppliers have realised. But things don't have to be this way. In this episode, RIABU’s Simon Littlewood and Mark Laudi share more about how suppliers can handle customer relationships in order to protect themselves and their business. Read more about this topic here.

Anyone running a small business will understand how late payments from customers can not only be a problem in the short term, but could also lead to missed opportunities and heightened anxiety, not to mention the failure of your business. That’s because late payments are not just delayed cash flow but involve numerous other visible and hidden costs. In this episode, RIABU’s Simon Littlewood and Mark Laudi discuss these costs, and what businesses can do to prevent late payments. Read more about this topic here.

We've talked about the strengths and weaknesses of tech before, and we're doing it again because it's just that important. Many sellers of accounting software technology claim that their solutions can solve cash flow problems. Some governments also support this view.  While RIABU appreciates technologies that help companies operate more efficiently and that support growth, we believe that when you get paid late, it is because a human being (or human beings) has made a decision to pay you late. In this episode, RIABU’s Simon Littlewood and Mark Laudi explain why managing these human relationships is the real key to invoicing success. Read more about this topic here. 

According to the United States’ Small Business Administration, about 20% of businesses fail in the first year, 50% fail within five years, and only 33% survive by the 10th year. These statistics reveal that keeping a business going is not easy. But if you are a current or aspiring entrepreneur, this shouldn’t kill your entrepreneurial spirit. Instead, you need to understand the major reasons why small businesses fail, and learn from these mistakes. In this episode, RIABU’s Simon Littlewood and Mark Laudi elaborate on some factors that can cause cash flow problems — a major reason for business failure. Read more about this topic here. 

If you’ve listened to the RIABU podcast in the past, you’ll know we have an aversion to automating everything in the customer relationship. Because automated messages and emails are easy to ignore. But there is a role for technology to improve customer intimacy, as in not going on a date with your customer, but about making a date with your customer to talk about payments. RIABU’s Simon Littlewood tells Mark Laudi how we can use online tools to replace face-to-face meetings, and how to approach your customers in a slightly different way.

If you have read our book, Let The Cash Flow, you will know that just keeping your customer to the time period of payment is difficult. Even if you had already agreed on terms at the beginning of the relationship and things start off well, payments usually get gradually slower. This natural creep goes against your pre-agreed terms, and it will only get worse if you do not catch it. Simon Littlewood tells Mark Laudi how to keep an eye on your payment dates.

We speak to someone who has found success in getting her customers to pay her on time!  Cheryl Chan, Global Tender Manager of ModuResources, said in an interview with Simon Littlewood that getting paid on time is down to understanding the customer's payment processes and maintaining a high level of communication. Listen to Chan tell Simon Littlewood how making the unusual request to meet the finance team during the initial discussions gives her an understanding of how the client's processes work and knowing the contact details of people she can call about payment matters.