I have learned over the years the best policy when building business relationships is to always be open and honest. This way there is no BS and more importantly everyone knows where they stand through being transparent. I do not think there is enough truth telling happening and everyone talks in code which you have to decipher. There is nothing worse not knowing where you stand and I hate not knowing.
This month I had to make some urgent phone calls when our main warehouse client only paid half their bill. The balance is being paid Friday which is not terrible, but it does create issues. My daughter had paid the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax and in hind sight could have paid that last.
If our client had been upfront and honest from the beginning one of this would have been a problem, yet they kept quiet. This is one of the reasons I am adding many other smaller businesses to the main business so we are not reliant on just one paying the bills and have multiple revenue streams. This part will always be a work in progress so nothing ever stagnates.
Top of the list each month should be salaries and the landlord followed by your key service providers. This month the salaries were paid and the rent had to be juggled and why I made the call to let them know. They have since been paid, but better than keeping quiet I thought it best to keep them updated. They appreciated the call as I feel it is better to be pro active calling them than them phoning you. You are averting any trouble before it happens and at the same time strengthening your relationship.
The other call was made to our textile waste supplier as e was expecting payment last Friday for the next order they are about to dispatch. They understood immediately and will be paid tomorrow which also puts everyone at ease knowing where they stand.
These days I tend to put myself in other peoples shoes and this is what I would expect to happen. I think it is just a common courtesy especially when money is involved and it seems that many others do not follow the same principles by just staying quiet.
It is funny that when you are chasing payments all you want is the truth and you normally get the exact opposite. Humans are strange that telling the truth is so difficult and it is also the easiest response you can give. There is no thinking up a plausible story or an excuse to buy you some precious time. If the funds are not available everyone wats to know when they will be available and nothing else.
My daughter was stressed out like normal and told her not to worry as she needs to learn and to be more open as this was not a stressful problem. If the funds were not forth coming then yes this changes the stress levels. Next month the tax man can wait and be last on the payment list.