You don’t need an auto tiller to spread the seeds for a successful landscaping business. But as you know, a single instance of root rot can spread so quickly that it can kill your entire crop. Don’t let bad debt overcome you. Take root with these ideas on how to see more green.
- Trim and Prune: Want a way to see a near-instant influx of cash, without any expense outlay on your part? Take a look around your warehouse or storage space and see what you don’t need. Maybe that old lawnmower has been collecting dust since you got the new one. Guess what? There’s someone out there who wants the parts, or a collector who’s just got to have it. Check out websites such as eBay, Craigslist, and Etsy for ways to sell off unused equipment or scrap.
- Hedge Your Bets: It may sound counter-intuitive to invest your money in something temporary, but look what leasing has done for the car industry. If you can lease some of your equipment, you’re able to write off the cost instead of drawing more debt. And you can look forward to new items every couple of years instead of dealing with depreciation.
- Chop those Payments: You can’t stop paying your bills entirely, or you’ll find yourself on the other end of the collections spectrum. You have two action items: prioritize and consolidate. Prioritize your highest-interest rate debt, which is probably your credit cards. The more money you put towards that, the less you’ll end up owing in the long run. Consolidation is the act of putting all (or many) of your loans into a single payment. This can be a boon to your credit rating.
- Plant the Seeds: Your creditors are not your enemy. They’re in your corner, and they want to see you flourish like the gardens and foliage you plan and plant. So get them in your corner. Make them aware of your credit situation and and financial hardships, such as a natural disaster like flood or tornado that’s wiped out your clientele’s acreage, leaving you without work. They’ll see the fact that you’re staying in touch as a positive, rather than avoiding them or shutting them out entirely. When you don’t talk, others do. The rumor mill takes on a life of its own, which you can head off with open communications.
- Call in the Experts: Organizations such as the American Society of Landscape Architects exist to help you promote your business and educate yourself on your chosen field, but when you need help with debt recovery and revenue maximization, consult experts in those fields. A collection agency can help you squeeze every last drop out of even those most arid of land, including accounts well past-due that you think you’ve exhausted.
Weed out bad debt now by harvesting our free white paper on How to Choose A Collection Agency. Click below, and start sprouting cash.
