Thought Leadership – Amy Russell

Not getting paid must be one of the worst things we have to face as a business owner.  We’ve done the work, or provided the service, and so payment should follow. But that’s not always the case.

Many business owners accept that it’s just part of running a business, but for others it can lead to no business at all.

It’s not always appropriate to go straight to legal recourse, and so the owner continues to wait, sometimes years before hopefully payment is made.

In that time, they’ve probably had to shore up the business, often with borrowing, usually at great additional cost. But what happens if the overdraft isn’t approved, or they reach the limit? Then it’s onto credit card drawdowns, before finally adding in their own funds to keep the business going.

They still have their own business bills to pay, but often these are also delayed in the hope that funds will be received. Leading to a cycle of non-payment that trickles down the chain.

Staff still need to be paid, often before others, including the business owner themselves, take payments. How often does this lack of salary payment lead to personal debts? How does that business owner pay their mortgage, their other bills? What does this lead to – anxiety, depression, mental health issues, business closures, redundancies, bankruptcy, homelessness, the list goes on.

All because one (I’m being generous) payment is delayed or not made at all.

This is why I’m proud to be a Gold level of the Fair Payment Code, and will be encouraging others to sign up.

Written by Amy Russell, Crescent Business Support Limited Associate.