What's New At Credit Matters?

Welcome to our January newsletter. The focus as we commence 2024 is about reviewing known factors about doing business and understanding the drivers which help to create a more efficient business. In turn, this will to greater cashflow and profits.

The Special Topic this month is a quick review of “mates-rates” and what it really means.

Kim is available to help with your questions and concerns if you need any assistance, and as always, the first chat is always free of charge or obligation.

Quote Of The Month

“What we learn from history is that people don’t learn from history.” By Warren Buffett.

Monthly Business Observation

Most of  the mistakes of business which exist today, have been exposed in the past. Of course, there are a few more mistakes today as new factors emerge. Too often however the older factors are forgotten, or ignored as being inconsequential, or “… it cannot happen to us, because we are different and this time it is different!”

For instance, during COVID, many businesses had failed to learn the lessons from the GFC, which happened barely 12 years prior, and therefore was considered to be no longer relevant. The hard facts were there are still many businesspeople operating a business(s) prior and during COVID that had survived the GFC. Many of these same businesspeople would soon relearn the lessons of the GFC, and today a goodly number are no longer in business.

As we commence 2024, here we go again and it is just four years since the beginnings of COVID. Again, it appears the lessons of both earlier periods have been forgotten or ignored. As a result, many of those people which lost in either or both of those earlier periods, will probably lose again in the next two years.

It is also apparent, that managers and business owners do not even often look at the history of their own businesses. It is not surprising therefore that they also fail to learn from their own business dealings.

As we start 2024, it is known already many of our customers, and/or their customers, are in financial difficulties because of a failure to learn the lessons from history. If they had, they would have rediscovered that:

1. it was a lack of cash,
2. it was a lack of due diligence and business discipline,
3. too much debt owed and/or owing,
4. poor business practices, and
5. managerial arrogance or naivety which had caused previous problems.

It is these factors which will again create problems for all businesspeople in the next few years.

In moving forward therefore, firstly it is important to review your business’s records in order to see why problems were incurred and which were only resolved with negative consequences. The importance of reviewing history of failures is as the old saying goes, “…  that we learn more from our failures than our successes”.

If you do not have access to previous records, then it is essential to start keeping proper records of failures, as well as successes for future reference. It is also important that you take time to review information currently available from the media and keep up to date with what is happening around you. Such actions are part of the process of working ON your business, and not just IN it.

It is a wise businessperson who researches what is required and how to avoid the pitfalls of what might cause problems before they start up their business(s). It is strange then, these same businesspeople often do not consider the importance and value by studying the history of economic times and its effects on their business once the business has commenced.

At the end of the day, the lessons of history, whether that be from a general sense or personal perspective are worth studying, when starting and the managing of an ongoing business. These past lessons and the results, with a few exceptions, are usually the same today as they were in the past. The value of such history lessons is often the reason why you are successful today and into the future.

This Month's Business Inconvenient Truth

Regretfully in many businesses, management, salespeople and even business development employees are focused on selling their business’s products and services on credit. As a result, the thought of selling for cash up front, part payments, or for other incentives, are often not anticipated and/or are even discouraged.

The fact is that by having different sales strategies, it allows your business to sell to a range of different customers. A number of these customers may be difficult, or slow paying, plus to any new customers or those just starting a new business.

As a result of modern sales practices, the art of selling and business is often lost.

The problem for all businesses moving forward, is the fact that making a sale in most industries and professions will be increasing difficult in the future. In fact, most business commentators expect sales to fall away in 2024 after the perceived success of the November, Christmas and New Year sales. This situation will persist irrespective of whether the business sells on credit or cash and for some time afterwards.

Therefore, the new skills of business will entail rediscovering the art of selling and business in tough times if they are to survive. In conjunction with a new marketing campaign, there should be a focus on delivering great customer service, developing new sales strategies, employing professional credit, accounts receivable and accounts payable managers. It is this later group of employees which are particularly attuned and understanding of the behaviour and language of people in business.

Employing salespeople who can only take orders will not be good enough in the future as your business seeks first to survive in the following years and then grow. To gain critical advantage over your business’s competitors means employing the right people, creating different sales strategies, and maintaining a positive financial position.