Small Business

Finding Industry Trends in Your Portfolio

Posted on Aug 18 2011 by

Tweet Many times businesses focus on customer accounts from an operational standpoint. They review their portfolios relative to the processes of origination, credit management, and collections. And so much emphasis goes into the operational side of the business that analysis of their portfolios for profitability to particular types of customers are often overlooked. Here are [...]

Make sure your credit policy accounts for Account Review

Posted on Aug 15 2011 by

Tweet Last time we talked about how credit policies are like a plant grown from a seed. They need regular review and attention just like the plants in your garden to really bloom.  A credit policy is simply a consistent guideline to follow when decisioning accounts, reviewing accounts, collecting and setting terms.  Opening accounts is [...]

Business conversations and pizza debates

Posted on Aug 11 2011 by

Tweet Next week, the Credit Research Foundation’s (CRF) summer conference is in Chicago—and I am thrilled to attend.  Not only is this CRF Forum one of my favorites of the year, the forum is also in Chicago.  What else could be better?  If you are not familiar with CRF, or have not been involved in [...]

Helpful “codes” explain the score

Posted on Aug 09 2011 by

Tweet In the holiday favorite, “A Christmas Story,” Ralphie drinks an ocean of Ovaltine in order to receive a Little Orphan Annie decoding ring. He uses this to finally decode the cryptic messages he tracked from the end of each episode of his favorite radio show. It turns out that all his hard work was [...]

Business collections prioritization: check out Experian’s second phase in a two phase approach.

Posted on Aug 08 2011 by

Tweet In a previous post I advanced the first of a two phased cross matrix approach to prioritizing commercial collections.  In this second post in a two part series, I’d like to expand on this idea. Phase 2 – Collection Priority Intelliscore and Activity Age Indicator   In a previous post, I advanced the first [...]

Are you using a “dull” risk score?

Posted on Aug 05 2011 by

Tweet I have especially fond memories at this time of year of working with my grandfather as a painting apprentice during my summer vacations growing up. One of my jobs as an apprentice was using a putty knife to scrape the cracked old paint off of window sills and then sanding and priming them before [...]

U.S. debt ceiling and small business borrowing – is it the same?

Posted on Aug 04 2011 by

Tweet It was hardly possible to go a day over the past few months without hearing about the squabbles in Washington D.C. regarding the debt ceiling and the budget deficit.  Thankfully the issues have been resolved, albeit temporarily.  I thought I would take a moment to draw the corollaries that this debate has with the [...]

Your small business is like a person; it needs credit to succeed

Posted on Aug 03 2011 by

Tweet You’ve got a great idea, the capital and the know-how to make it happen. Yet entrepreneurial success also depends on something else many small business owners don’t pay enough attention to: your business credit profile. Here’s a tip! Just as your personal credit rating has a big impact on your financial health, your business [...]

Commercial Collecting on a Dime

Posted on Jul 27 2011 by

Tweet When you’re on a tight budget, you definitely want to get the best bang for your buck. One way to do this is to evaluate your commercial collection process. For instance, start with deciding which accounts you go after first. By prioritizing your collection efforts, you’ll save a lot of time and recover your [...]

When was the last time you reviewed your credit policy?

Posted on Jul 26 2011 by

Tweet Credit policies are like a plant grown from a seed. They need regular review and attention just like the plants in your garden to really bloom.  A credit policy is simply a consistent guideline to follow when decisioning accounts, reviewing accounts, collecting and setting terms.   A couple of key items to consider in [...]