RIABU - Tips and tools for getting paid on time by your customers

What will happen to your SME if there is a second wave?

In many parts of the world a second wave of COVID-19 looks increasingly likely. With countries such as the United States, Spain, the Philippines, Hong Kong and others bracing for another wave of infections, business owners exhausted from the first wave can be forgiven for wondering how much longer they can hang on. RIABU's Simon Littlewood and Mark Laudi debate what this means for SMEs are facing a second wave of economic disruption. Here's the article Simon and Mark were referencing: ‘Calm before the storm’: UK small businesses fear for their future (https://www.ft.com/content/2bef51e5-f581-4ef5-af95-3c344ed7a238)

To those people who think SMEs deserve to be paid late

Some people seriously believe suppliers absolutely deserve to be paid late, to adapt to the customer's cash cycle, as this recent post on LinkedIn bears out.

RIABU's Simon Littlewood and Mark Laudi almost choked on their breakfast when they read it, and respond in this podcast.

The author writes (abbreviations his): "The correct, ethical calc of payment times b/n buyers & suppliers s/b based upon the buyers' cash cycle. Here's an intellectual basis to my assertion: https://lnkd.in/gCwKsgA. During an economic crisis, it is ethical & correct for suppliers to wait longer to get paid if buyers' cash cycles have increased b/c inventory turnover has slowed. The correct solution in our brave new digital paradigm is for Govt to enable digital integration tech to connect the working capital needs of every SME supplier in Australia DIRECT to capital markets."

Second Covid wave: How can SMEs prepare?

There are signs all over the world that there will be a second wave of Covid infections. Many countries and cities are reporting record infections. If your SME has already been hit once by the economic downturn brought on by Covid, how should you prepare for it this time? RIABU's Simon Littlewood and Mark Laudi review your options.

 

How to finance your exports post-Covid

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.

What will happen to SMEs when the Covid financial relief ends?

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.

How freelancers can get paid on time

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.

What to do if a customer is going broke

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.

How can you stave off bankruptcy post Covid-19?

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.

What happens when Covid support ends and deferred costs bite?

With the Covid-19 lockdown ending in many countries all around the world, businesses will not just be getting back to serving customers. They will also be asking themselves how to meet their deferred obligations.

Governments all around the world have provided huge support packages to tide business over the crisis. But in many cases, these just allowed businesses to defer expenses - not to avoid them altogether.

The chickens are going to come home to roost once these deferment periods end. Is your business ready for them?

RIABU's Simon Littlewood and Mark Laudi discuss what you can do to get ready.

It's not funny: Ad agencies decry clients who pay their invoices late

An alliance of advertising industry associations has called out some of the world's largest firms for spending US$20 bln annually in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs, even as they pay their suppliers late.

VoxComm represents industry associations in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Europe, the US, Brazil, Mexico, Australia and others, and says "companies bully agencies into longer payment terms or just flagrantly flout contractual payment terms. The unintended consequences mean agencies in-turn struggle to meet payroll, often 75% of their costs. Then have to delay paying their freelancers and sub-contractors who have been hired to work directly for these clients".

For these sub-contractors, "Their fees are their salaries. It is what pays the rent and what puts food on the table."

Delaying payment was "directly at odds with [the companies'] avowed policy of CSR", VoxComm said. Full story here.

For Simon Littlewood and Mark Laudi, this is of course all too familiar.

In this podcast they discuss the issue and what you can do about it - and end with a rather unorthodox way of getting paid on time.

Email them at service@riabu.com