I tell my contractor mates on a regular basis that they should follow up on everything they do. Not just quotes or estimates. If you undertake a Gas Safety Check for a client place their document in file dated eleven months from now and call them or send them a reminder. Once you find a client and they are happy with your work keep them close. Stay in contact.

Another good article here.

It is with a sad heart that we say goodbye to Bill Gates. It’s been an affair that stretched twenty seven years. But like all good things it finally had to come to an end. I’m not shedding any tears though as Microsoft has cost me dearly in the past three decades. With license structures the way they are I will continue to have to spend more money to keep up with my competitors, to keep a high web presence and of course stay legal. continue

Do you run a small business? Are you so busy that its hard to follow up on poor payers? Have you had a client play the game of putting off payments for so long you feel like your head is about to explode? Me too. So I did something about it legally thinking I was doing the right thing and the situation spiralled so far out of control I had to get even more legal help.

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Quote by John Ruskin, English Philosopher (1818-1900)

“It’s unwise to pay too much…but it’s unwise to pay too little.
When you pay too much, you lose a little money…that is all.
When you pay too little…you sometimes lose everything…
because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing
you bought it to do. The common law of business balance
prohibits paying a little and getting a lot…it can’t be done.
If you deal with the lowest bidder…its’s well to add something
for the risk you run. And if you do that…you will have
enough to pay for something better.”

Got extra time to waste? Of course you do! We all do. At least that’s what financial organisations must think. After spending my whole day today trying to sort out my insurance, car tax, banking issues and accounts receivables I’m sure that’s what they think.

As a small businessman I try to keep up a professional heir no matter what. Today however I felt at the end of my rope after spending hours on the phone sorting out issues that frankly weren’t directly my problem. All the problems that were sorted out today were administrative mistakes or technical glitches caused by the very institutions that rape my bank account every month for their service fees which frankly just aren’t worth it.

There are alternatives of course. I could walk around with a big wad of cash in my pocket. Pay for everything in cash and take only cash payments. I know a few contractors who do that. They have a lot less stress than me because they don’t deal with any institutions. Cash in and cash out. No records, no accounts or accountants, no banks, no credit cards, no invoices and no receipts. They also pay a lot less tax than I do, have no insurance premiums and therefore no responsibility. They pay there workers in cash so don’t have to worry about payroll records. The only warranty they give; five minutes or five miles whichever comes first.

Perhaps there is a better way. Maybe it’s time for small business owners and small business organisations to get together and let the big corporations know that we’ve had enough. How about setting up a specific cooperative bank run for the exclusive use of small businesses by small businesses. By the time I pay my memberships dues, insurances, vehicle payments, telecommunications charges, tools, clothing, banking fees all of which allow me just to on the business I’m out of pocket thousands of pounds. Even a small savings of even twenty five quid a month, the cost of basic banking fees, would make a difference. As for all of my wasted time making phone calls today, perhaps this new bank could offer a SLA (Service Level Agreement) to its customers, us, that says if they screw up you receive reimbursement for your time. Maybe a small fee paid back into your account at month end.

I’m not asking for the world really. Perhaps just an acknowledgment that when a mistake is made or and overcharge is taken out of my account that you apologise for the mistake and reimburse me for the time and effort taken to call you on your 0870 number. If I treated my customers financial institutions treat me I’d be living in a cardboard box and selling big issues.

Do you think your builder, electrician or gas fitter is ripping you off? There are those who intend to do just that but I believe that most contractors are fair minded business men. Why then are we all made out to be thieves and rogues ripping off the public and the tax office at every opportunity? continue