Episodes
Tuesday Aug 16, 2022
Negotiate your contract price at acceptable profit margins
Tuesday Aug 16, 2022
Tuesday Aug 16, 2022
More than half of the USA SMEs experienced late payments from large companies which significantly impacted their business, delayed hiring, and reduced their ability to recover from the pandemic. Late payments are a persistent dilemma for small businesses which affects their ability to maintain a steady cash flow and invest for the future. With about 31.7 million small business firms operating in the United States, accounting for 44% of US economic activity, what should these firms do to get paid on time? RIABU’s Simon Littlewood and Mark Laudi have some ideas. Read more about this topic here.
Friday Mar 25, 2022
Payment of invoices on time benefits all stakeholders
Friday Mar 25, 2022
Friday Mar 25, 2022
While the world’s attention is focused on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, about 440,000 or 8% of the small businesses in the United Kingdom face insolvency from cash flow problems arising from higher operating costs and difficulties in getting invoices paid on time.
In this podcast, Liz Barclay, UK Small Business Commissioner, and RIABU’s Mark Laudi, discuss the importance of the prompt payment code introduced by the UK government in 2008 to encourage large companies to commit to good payment practices, and how, barring a few outliers, the industry average of payment days has been improving. But Liz believes that more needs to be done. She emphasizes that a company’s board of directors have an ethical responsibility to pay invoices on time. To safeguard the sustainability of their suppliers, it must be a strategic decision rather than an operational one. This, in turn, helps all stakeholders because it enhances the supplier's bottom line, which attracts more investors and qualified workers.
On the other hand, small businesses or suppliers lack negotiation skills and make a variety of invoicing errors. Liz points out that while digital technology has helped many small businesses save time and minimise the number of invoicing errors, it isn't the ultimate solution for getting paid on time. They must be bold and confident enough to propel their business forward by negotiating better payment terms with their customers.
Monday Jan 24, 2022
Outlook for SMEs in China, UK, and eastern Europe
Monday Jan 24, 2022
Monday Jan 24, 2022
Small businesses continue to face challenges like rising costs and lower demand, which are leading to higher bankruptcies across the globe. While the Chinese government is extending support to SMEs, the UK is moving in the opposite direction. Meanwhile, Eastern European businesses remain vulnerable to external border shocks. Listen to RIABU’s Simon Littlewood and Mark Laudi discuss what SMEs worldwide can learn from these different situations.
Friday Apr 23, 2021
Friday Apr 23, 2021
Local brand platform Naiise has closed its physical stores, and its owner Dennis Tay said he is filing for personal bankruptcy.
Its vendors, who have sold their goods to him on consignment, are demanding that he pay them.
What should a small business owner do to make sure their consignment deal does not go awry?
RIABU’s Simon Littlewood and Mark Laudi talk about the importance of working capital and what an SME owner can watch out for in dealing with a consignment vendor.
Meantime, we are counting down the days to the launch of our book, "Let The Cash Flow".
"Let The Cash Flow" is published by Marshall Cavendish and is available in bookstores, on Amazon and other online channels in April.
Tuesday Jul 14, 2020
How to finance your exports post-Covid
Tuesday Jul 14, 2020
Tuesday Jul 14, 2020
Exporting your products to customers in other countries might be one way to trade your way out of trouble, especially if local markets are still stagnating.
But financing comes with additional complexities, such as misunderstandings in expectations due to language and cultural barriers, and having less information about the customer in a format you are used to.
In this podcast, RIABU Simon Littlewood and Mark Laudi discuss three common forms of financing your exports.
And here is the link to the story they mentioned.
Monday Jul 06, 2020
What will happen to SMEs when the Covid financial relief ends?
Monday Jul 06, 2020
Monday Jul 06, 2020
SMEs in many parts of the world have benefitted from government measures to help them survive - and in Malaysia that means SMEs have enjoyed a moratorium on loan until October.
But even as economies are slowly starting to recover as lockdowns are eased, the revenue shortfall will mean they won't have enough cashflow to repay loans once loan repayments fall due again.
RIABU's Simon Littlewood and Mark Laudi discuss the implications, and how you can survive.
Thursday Jul 02, 2020
How freelancers can get paid on time
Thursday Jul 02, 2020
Thursday Jul 02, 2020
Even famous novelists sometimes don't get paid on time! Just ask Balli Jaswal.
She is well known for her novels Inheritance, Sugarbread and Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows, but even that didn't help getting paid on time for work commissioned by VOGUE India.
In this edition of the RIABU podcast, she describes what happened, and Simon Littlewood offers some guidance and advice for all freelancers to avoid a similar situation.
Wednesday Jun 24, 2020
What to do if a customer is going broke
Wednesday Jun 24, 2020
Wednesday Jun 24, 2020
We have received an email from a member of the RIABU community, expressing grave concern their invoices to one of their customers will never be paid.
So, on this edition of the RIABU podcast, Simon Littlewood and Mark Laudi investigate what to do if the company you are supplying looks like it will not survive.
Friday Jun 19, 2020
How can you stave off bankruptcy post Covid-19?
Friday Jun 19, 2020
Friday Jun 19, 2020
Research by Dun & Bradstreet has found a big surge in the number of bankruptcies reported in Singapore in Q1 2020.
Even before the big economic slump, brought about by Covid-19, there was a 70% surge in the number of companies declaring bankruptcy.
More than 5,000 companies have ceased or canceled registration, while another 238 went into liquidation in Q1 2020 alone. Applications for Bankruptcy recorded 1,278 in Q1 2020, up from 757 in Q1 2019 according to the Ministry of Law’s Insolvency Office. Article link here.
In this podcast, RIABU's Simon Littlewood and Mark Laudi discuss how to avert bankruptcy if you are staring down the abyss, and when bankruptcy might actually be a good idea.
Friday Jun 12, 2020
Five2Thrive: Tea Talk with RIABU's Simon Littlewood
Friday Jun 12, 2020
Friday Jun 12, 2020
"Chaos is a Ladder."
In turbulent times, some businesses thrive and grow. How do they do it, what can we learn?
RIABU's Simon J. Littlewood will conduct this virtual seminar with senior MBA students and Alumni at the Imperial Institute of Higher Education, Colombo.
Join this virtual seminar on June 15 at 6PM (IST) via Zoom.
Details below,
Topic: FIVE2THRIVE - Teatalk
Time: Jun 15, 2020 06:00 PM Mumbai, Kolkata, New Delhi
Zoom Meeting Link: https://lnkd.in/gmKGKXS
Meeting ID: 956 7999 6451