I recently ran across a great article on the Forbes.com website that was written by Brett Nelson that answers the question, "What are some creative ways to collect on accounts over 30 days old?"
If your terms are net 30 or due upon receipt, you might find this article helpful. The article gives you some tips and ideas on how you can collect from the past due debtor and also stresses that entrepreneurs can avoid this problem by having a good credit policy in place BEFORE this happens.
This is something I continually try to stress to people, and am glad to see others helping me in this endeavor! I run across more entrepreneurs that do NOT have a credit policy, than do have a credit policy.
Just like with anything else, you must take precautions and be prepared. Call it preventive maintenance. As an example, when I turned 40 I decided to start working out, I call it preventive maintenance. I am not overweight or trying to lose weight, I work out to stay healthy and build strength.
Having a credit policy is good business, you do it to keep your business "healthy" by maintaining cash flow so you can thrive and grow, and you want to build strength. Your customer base and sales are your strength, so you want to continuously look at your policy and make sure it is working for you and with you.
When you don't have a credit policy, you are pedaling backwards.
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