Most business owners are not unreasonable. They’re willing to accept reasonable delays because running a business is difficult. But after a few polite reminders and rounds of false hope, everyone has a limit to their patience.
Sometimes you even tell your own suppliers that you’ll pay them because you believed your customer when he said he would pay you. Now you’re the one who looks like a person who cannot keep his own promises.
In my experience as a debt recovery lawyer, you should only consider accepting further delays from customers who show signs of sincerity:
1. They give you a specific amount payable by a specific date.
2. They respond to your messages instead of ghosting you.
3. They give you postdated cheques.
4. They’re willing to put their promises to pay in writing, instead of only calling you and refusing to put anything down on paper.
5. They go further by offering personal guarantees.
6. They’re transparent about the situation they’re facing and explain what’s happening instead of avoiding the conversation.
7. Even if they cannot pay the full amount on time, they at least pay a portion to show sincerity.
In my debt recovery practice, these are the signs I look out for when dealing with debtors and deciding whether to give them more time or escalate the matter.
Rudi Cheu (rudi@rulecolaw.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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