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CAPITAL IDEAS UPCOMING EVENTS NOVEMBER 19: STA R T U P CA LG A RY LAUNCH PARTY 2015 Startup Calgary’s annual Launch Party recognizes the city’s most innovative startups. ■ Where: Mount Royal University (4825 Mt Royal Gate S.W.) ■ When: 6 to 11 p.m. ■ Admission: $30 for early bird. More info at picatic.com/sclp2015
FINANCIAL POST
CA LG A RY H E R A L D
C A P I TA L Q U E S T I O N
HOW DO YOU ENSURE THAT YOU GET PAID IN A TIMELY MANNER? Entrepreneurs share how they track accounts receivable “Extending credit to your customers or clients is always a tricky proposition, as it involves an element of both trust and risk. That’s why the most important part of being paid in a timely fashion is having an agreement, which clearly states the terms of payment before any work takes place. This way there should be no confusion when the work has been completed and an invoice issued to a customer. Secondly, invoice promptly, you can’t be paid if you haven’t sent an invoice.” Randall McRae, partner at McRally Accountants & Advisors, mcrally.ca
NOVEMBER 23-24: WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP AND BUSINESS CONFERENCE Designed for leaders, managers and entrepreneurs who want to advance their career or grow their business. ■ Where: Hyatt Regency Calgary (700 Centre Street S.E.) ■ When: 7 a.m. to 4 p.m ■ Admission: $1295 early bird. More info at wilbconference.com
“I ensure I get paid in a timely manner by adhering to my accounts receivable management. To start, I clearly put the terms of payment on each invoice. I transfer the terms of payment for each invoice to a spreadsheet that lists my receivables with the date the invoice is suppose to be paid. I follow up a week or ten days in advance from the date the invoice is suppose to be paid to make sure the invoice is in my vendor’s accounts payable system first of all and find out when it is scheduled to be paid.” Daryl Turko, owner and manager of Interface Financial Group, interfacefinancial.com
“Because the majority of my items are personalized and customized, I request full payment up front before the design process can begin. I offer various forms of payment to make it easy for my customers, and my payment terms are laid out clearly on my website and order form.”
For more great events, visit capitalideascalgary.com/ calgaryevents.
Valery Klassen, owner and designer at Sun 7 Designs, sun7designs.com
“We get experts to do it for us. If we have a client who takes a while to pay their bills, then we use Fundthrough to forward us the cash and collect on the invoice. The fee is less than a line of credit and more than offsets the delay and cash flow disruption.”
COMMUNITY QUESTION
What makes Calgary a great place to do business?
Len Nanjad, partner at COREinternational, coreinternational.com
Communication with customers is the key to getting paid promptly, says Don O’Dwyer, CEO of Raven Bay (ravenbay.com). “Our approach to getting paid in a timely manner is to have ongoing discussions with updates and create a relationship with our clients” P H O T O BY : D I O N D I C K S , D I R E Q T I O N P H O T O G R A P H Y ( D I R E Q T I O N.C A )
Our local community has a lot to offer entrepreneurs wanting to advance new ideas and explore opportunities, which is why Greg Habstritt, president of Vets To Go (vetstogo.com) and the winner of the 2015 ATB Small Business Award, would like to hear from you: What makes Calgary a great place to do business? You can answer the question in two ways: Open today’s Capital Ideas email if you’re a member or visit capitalideascalgary.com We’ll publish the best answers, along with your business name and website address, on Nov. 5.
“I think that a lot of solo consultants have this issue. We found two strategies that help. We get a significant deposit on work at the time of contract signing, which ensures we’ve got cash flow to support the effort. We also offer a discount on the total project price for paying the entirety up front. About half of our clients take the discount, and that means we have cash to fund operations, and also reduces the likelihood of delays or cancellations, and the consequences to our cash flow if they do occur.” Jeff Griffiths, co-founder of Griffiths Sheppard Consulting Group Inc., griffiths-sheppard.com
“Use automation services. There are so many incredible services that can automate key aspects of your client communications, including accounts receivable. Just make sure you edit all the default messages, and sound like a human, otherwise you will just get overlooked.”
Michael Tighe, managing partner at Solid Site, asolidsite.com
“Getting paid in a timely manner has been a huge learning curve for me. Starting out, I always thought I was providing a service and should be polite and patient to my clients. Since then, I have learned. Now, on all my invoices I make my client aware that if payment is not received within 30 days a five per cent late fee incurs. If they continue to be late, I will halt services unless circumstances call for otherwise.” Jessica Steffens, owner of To The Beat Safety Training, safetytothebeat.com
“Projects are 50 per cent upfront and 50 per cent at completion. Retainers are billed at the beginning of the month before service delivery. This seems to help keep us ahead of this issue.”
Lisa Genovese, president of BottomLine Marketing, ( bottomlinemarketing.ca)
These answers are in response to a question posed by Wellington Holbrook, executive vice-president of ATB Business. Here’s his take: “The first step is so obvious you’d be surprised how many entrepreneurs miss it. Just ask. Setting tight but reasonable terms is acceptable to more of your customers than you might expect. If you are worried that this might sacrifice your relationship, don’t worry, they will let you know and you can adjust. The second step is maybe less obvious. Make sure that you understand your customer’s billing cycle. By taking this into consideration you can optimize the best time to get your invoice into their system and to get your payment sooner, and not later.”
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Find the full posts on these members’ LinkedIn profiles or at their website. We’ll curate a selection every Friday in our LinkedIn group, Capital Ideas Alberta. To bring yours to our attention, email it to hello@capitalideascalgary.com or post to LinkedIn with the hashtag #capitalideas.
From “Great Scott! Marketing predictions Back to the Future II got right” by Amber Craig, CEO at Bamboo Creative Inc. (bamboocreativeinc.com):
“Okay, so we don’t have flying cars and self-tying Nike shoes just yet, but there were a lot of things Back to the Future II predicted right about technology and marketing in the year 2015.”
From “Breaking down generational barriers” by Eric Termuende, cofounder of Gen Y Inc. (genyinc.com):
From “The 80 per cent rule” by Jamie Clarke, CEO and cofounder at Live Out There Inc. ( liveoutthere.com):
“Too often do articles read, ‘What Gen Y (or any other generation for that matter) really wants.’ Or, ‘Gen Y (Z, etc., you get the point) is coming, here’s how to engage them.’ It isn’t possible to generalize a generation, and we need to stop trying to do so.”
“I’m always searching for objectives — this peak, that trail — where the challenge is sufficient to be rewarding but not demanding enough to push myself to the limit. There are occasions, of course, when you’re trained, prepared and out with a proficient team, and you can depend upon one another to go to your limits.”
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