There’s never been a more crucial time to understand your customers and suppliers
With 1 in 5 small businesses reportedly set to fail during the coronavirus outbreak, what can you do to make sure your business isn’t one of them?
Across the UK right now, millions of people have had to adjust to different ways of working, if they are working at all.
Some businesses – such as those involved in food production or medical supplies – have never been busier. Others literally cannot function. And even with the best business continuity planning possible, nobody saw this global situation coming.
Here’s how you can give yourself the best chance of stopping bad debt happening to you.
The biggest disruption to supply chains yet
One of the first casualties in business of the coronavirus situation was the aviation industry.
Planes were grounded the world over after the onset of travel restrictions, with tens of thousands of airline staff laid off, temporarily or permanently.
But that’s not all.
Catering companies who supply airlines immediately felt the impact.
Airport stores and restaurants saw massive declines in footfall, if they remained open at all. Their suppliers had no call to provide additional items.
Airport car parks were deserted, leaving no income for those operating them.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Cashflow is restricted across the board. Businesses are laying off staff they can no longer afford to pay. And this is happening across a huge swathe of society, with people from all walks of life affected.
Good business relationships are stretched to the limit
You may have always relied on good customers and suppliers, who have always paid and delivered on time.
But right now, how do you know they are in a good financial position to carry on?
You know your customer. But do you know your customer’s customer? And if you do, how well do you know them?
Three ways Bollington can help you
Through our specialist trade credit insurance division, Prophet, Bollington can now deliver solutions to help you:
- Assess the creditworthiness of your customers, suppliers or competitors – we offer online access to credit reports on over 440 million companies in 220 countries across the world. This can help you to assess how well businesses are performing – whether it’s your customers who are buying from you, suppliers you are buying from, or competitors in your own market. This can help you maintain your own business and gain a competitive edge on your rivals.
- Provide insurance against customer insolvency and default – the need to protect your business from the risk of customer insolvency or non-payment has rarely been greater. Our specialist trade credit risks division can advise on the best approach to credit insurance based on your own specific needs. More information can be found here.
- Help you to collect overdue debts in difficult times – nobody wants to get to the point of chasing debt. However, it’s especially important in times like these, to ensure cashflow in your own business is protected. We can assist by offering access to our own specialist debt collection team here to help you collect overdue debts and provide advice on solutions available to you.
Help is at hand - get in touch
Access to all three services in one place means you have everything you need to assess credit risks, protect against them, and pursue overdue debts should the worst happen.
To speak to us about how we can help you to protect your business against trade credit risks, call Prophet on 01423 201800 to speak to our friendly team. We’re here to help you all throughout the coronavirus crisis.
