In this week's Freedom Friday blog and e-mail newsletter, I want to talk about a topic that I have had more inquiries for in the last 3 months than any other topic.  Some of these prospective clients have hired me to help them in this area, and some have not.  However, I just had a client hire me today for this issue, and so since its very common, I wanted to talk about this topic today.  The topic today is making sure you get paid, and what I mean by “you” is your small business.  Its very important that your clients pay your small business for the goods and services you provide them.

In today's Freedom Friday blog and e-mail newsletter, I want to talk about three (3) ways in which you can make sure your small business gets paid:

1.  Put it in writing

The first thing you should do as a small business owner to make sure you get paid is to put it in writing.  There are two different ways to do this, depending on the goods or services you are providing your customers.  If you're a service based business, you may be able to create a contract for your customers to sign that details the transaction.  However, many small business owners find contracts cumbersome, and so there is another way you can put it in writing, which is to make sure you invoice your customers, and keep copies of all your invoices.  Also, if you receive partial payments for goods and services, you need to keep detailed and accurate records of those, as well.

2.  Watch your receivables

The second thing you should do as a small business owner to make sure you get paid is to watch your receivables.  Receivables are monies owed to your small business by either your customers or other individuals who owe your small business money.  If you have open accounts, you need to make sure your customers are current on making their payments and watch to see if your receivables on these open accounts are not turning into collection issues for your small business.

3.  Consider hiring an attorney

Lastly, the third thing you should as a small business owner to make sure you get paid is to consider hiring an attorney.  Now, this is not something you should do lightly.  You should only consider hiring an attorney if you have done everything else to make sure you get paid.  For instance, before you consider hiring an attorney, you need to make sure you have detailed records of invoices, have watched your receivables, and usually made a good faith effort to attempt to resolve whatever open accounts or collection efforts on your own first (i.e. have you attempted to call the customer with the delinquent account, have you e-mailed him, sent him a letter, etc.).  After trying to resolve the matter yourself, you should then and only then, consider hiring an attorney to take legal action to resolve the issue.  That being said, even if you hire an attorney, and obtain a judgment against your former client, that is not a guarantee you get paid.  Nothing in life (or business) is guaranteed, and that includes getting paid.

If you are interested in starting a small business anywhere in Oklahoma, or if you have a small business and you are looking to grow, please contact me at [email protected] to schedule a FREE strategy session.

For more information about Liberty Legal Solutions, LLC, please visit our website at http://www.libertylegalok.com