At the back-end of 2003, just after I started this column, I prepared ten New Year's resolutions for my business. Foolhardily, I thought I'd just check through them to see what happened.
1: was to keep my administration up-to-date. I have more or less done that.
2: was to change my bank. Did it. That's not bad – two out of two.
3: garden my website. Haven't done that, but am being far more radical altogether and having a new one designed.
4: embrace e-commerce. See 3 above.
5: don't waste so much time on the phone during the working day gossiping with fellow publishers. Total failure.
6: always get everything checked before it goes out. Didn't do that... still don't. Top of this year's resolutions after a number of embarrassing gaffes with bibliographic material.
7: didn't buy Lynne Truss's Eats Shoots and Leaves to correct abysmal grammar of fellow publishers but daughter bought me Eats Shites and Leaves, written by A Parody, for Christmas, which is great fun although nothing to do with New Year's resolutions.
8: Work out how to use mobile phone to its full capabilities. Still a mystery although I can, and do, txt (but sadly I insist on texting messages in full with apostrophes, punctuation and so forth).
9: carry out environmental audit. Didn't do it, deciding instead that the friend who recommended it and who uses envelopes and boxes from other firms in his office building in fact has arms that do not reach into the bottom of his pockets.
10: don't bother with New Year resolutions. Well, some of them were kept to, so I am going to make just two this year.
The first is to ensure that I do get everything checked before it goes out. Even though we use proof readers, still mistakes creep in.
My second is one I'd like some help with. I have one customer who buys £5,000-worth of books each year but does not pay for eight or nine months. My challenge to you is to come up with a solution as to how to get him to pay promptly.
One colleague publisher suggested that I should refuse to let him have books in 2005. But what if the customers he sells the books on to get out of the habit of buying them? If that happens, I will have cut off my nose to spite my face.
However, in the meantime I continue to pay interest on an overdraft he has helped create. I suppose I could charge him interest on late payment, but I rather suspect he will eventually pay the first invoice and challenge me to chase him for the rest.
The problem is I can't go round to him with some muscular friends. My customer is French and lives in Paris, which means an added complication which even Times Online's business banking site has no answer for.
I've thought about turning the whole thing over to a factor, but that would cost me 10 per cent at least of the invoice value and that does not seem such good value.
So how do you get money in time from abroad? Come to that, how do you persuade people in this country to pay on time?
I normally pay my own bills when the invoice tells me to, and if I forget, one phone is usually enough to shame me into coughing up.
But this man, plus another in Greece, for a lesser amount, just ignore everything. So, your answers by e-mail please!
To contact Randall Northam, e-mail him at randall@sportsbooks.ltd.uk
