What Types of Claims Can Be Lodged At Small Claims Tribunals

If you intend to recover your bad debts through the Small Claims Tribunals, do proceed early as it may take longer than expected to recover your bad debts.

The claims must fulfil these criterias before you can file at the Small Claims Tribunals:

1. The amount claimed must not exceed $10,000.
2. The limit can be raised to $20,000 if all parties (Claimant and Respondent) consent in writing before the Registrar or Assistant Registrar.
3. Amount claimed must arise from
   
   • Contract for the Sale of Goods
   • Contract for the Provision of services
   • Arising in tort from Damaged of Property as a result of careless, reckless or improper act (except those cause by a motor vehicle)
   • Contract relating to a lease of residential premise not exceeding 2 years

Do also note that the claim must be made within 1 year from the date when the cause of action occurred.

You can also find more information from their website here: Small Claims Tribunals

I suggest that if you have any enquires, do go down personally to the subordinate courts to find out more. You'll probably need to go over to the Bailiffs’ Office which is situated right next to the Small Claims Tribunals to clarify any doubts about enforcing the order too.

I'll share more in my upcoming posts.

Is Anger A Bad Emotion?

Is anger an emotion that we should suppress or avoid altogether and is it really that bad an emotion?

No, it is not! It is merely a misunderstood emotion.

With all the anger management courses and damages done when people get angry, it's no wonder that anger is viewed as a bad emotion to have.

I can be real fiery when I am angry and have been told since young that anger is a bad emotion to have, until I read this from Anthony Robbins' book, Awaken The Giant Within:

"The message of anger is that an important rule or standard

that you hold for your life has been violated by someone else,

or maybe even by you."

- Anthony Robbins

How true the above statement is! If a partner, customer, supplier, employee angered you in the course of work. It is probably because he or she has fulfilled the above statement... unless you've misinterpreted the situation.

There's nothing wrong with being angry. But if you allow anger to take control of your actions and behave in a irrational manner, you may end up doing more harm than good. And this is definitely not the best way to address your anger. Here's an article I've written on just one such experience.

I rather much acknowledge my emotions because I know full well I don't get angry for no rhyme or reason. And to reflect and think about what whether it is the root of the cause has helped me make much better decisions in my business life.

It's your choice to let anger destroy or turn it into a constructive emotion to help you make better decisions and take the right course of action. It's about doing some reflections after getting angry to know what exactly have violated your own important rules in life.

So, the next time someone make you feel wrong when you get angry, just remind yourself that if you take control of your anger, it can be a constructive emotion too. ;)

Business Battlefield

Recently, I feel that I have been and am in a few business battles. Maybe it's the last debt collection episode, maybe it's behaviors of some competitors.

It certainly can get draining and even discouraging at times being a small business owner. In the course of over about a year. I've met many new business owners too and most times, it's everyone for themselves.

Of course, we do have very nice customers and partners who are the precious rare few. And it's these people that make the entrepreneur journey a delightful one. And I'm thankful to have met them and work together with them.

I wonder to myself whether it's my outlook and attitude. Will I behave in a menacing way when my business is more established? Will I try to kill of competition by snubbing out the little breathe of life in them?

I'm sure all businesses have their battles; it's a fight to keep your business alive. But I'm sure there's many ways to grow a business in corporative manner too. And I want my businesses to be like that.

Maybe I should view these "battles" as "negotiations" and opportunities to better myself at negotiating. It'll be more meaningful a fight then!

Personal Discipline Self Discipline

"When you discipline yourself to do the things you need to do when you need to do them, the day will come when you can do the things you want to do when you want to do them."

I believe in that above saying though I haven't master it. To be an entrepreneur, you must be disciplined to do the things you have to do each and every day. Simply because the time is all yours and business activities only happen when you want them to.

In the first few days of my entrepreneurial life, I slept in late and relish my new found freedom. Before long, I found myself waking up later every morning. And once in a a while, I 'll slip into this pattern again.

To remind myself this very important trait to be a successful entrepreneur and person too, I have printed out the below New Year resolution sheet in front my work desk.

Self-discipline is very important for anyone, not only entrepreneur, to succeed in life.

To able to do the necessary and delay anygratifications so that you can achieve more earlier definitely takes a strong will person to see it through. To help yourself stay disciplined, visualize the future that you can achieve if you stay on the right course. I'm sure it'll help to keep your discipline.

Sometimes, I just commit myself publicly (by announcing it) to a project  or a promise, thereby forcing myself to see through it.

What about you? How do you remind yourself to be discipline when you slip? Any special techniques you employ? Do share if you have.

How To Handle Sales Call Successfully?

I must admit, I am not a natural salesperson. When I had my first sales job in Espirit @ Crown Prince Hotel several years back, I resigned after a week vowing never to be a retail salesperson again.

And needless to say, I don't enjoy sales call too. It should be the fear of rejection that is holding me back and seeing it as a dread whenever I have to do sales call. And being your own boss means that you have to overcome the fear and even handle sales calls successfully to sell your business and yourself!

Here's a few tips that i find useful:

• Prepare yourself mentally by being positive and knowing what to say when you make the call. Smile and the person over the phone will "see" it and you won't want to receive a call from a bored, unsure or negative sounding person yourself.

• Introduce yourself. It irks me when people rattle off without me knowing who they are.

• State the purpose of your call and check whether it is a good time to speak with them. Once again, it can be irritating to be interrupted by a sales call when you're busy. I rather have the person call me back when I am in a more relaxed  mode. If not, no sales will be made anyway.

• Do not take rejection personally. Find out the reason if you can by listening well. Remember that people are busy and there may well be many reasons why the person is turning down the sales or proposal.

• Review what went well and what can be improved and call again. Move on with improvements!

Now, I have one more important sales call to make. The lady has rejected us several times and she has been real busy with her new shop opening. It's time to practise what I've mentioned above!

Read more tips here: Successful Sales Calls Tips!

Bad Debts Costly to Small Businesses

Did you know that from a survey done in UK, 47% of SMEs have no provision in place for bad debts or unpaid invoices? 34% will rely on legal action should they find themselves in such a situation, 27% would use their bank overdraft facility and 15% even plan to cover their shortfall with their own savings!

Unfortunately, even with good working relationship with suppliers and customers,  every businesses will still experience bad debts. For the rare few that don't, they should count themselves very lucky. And for the rest of us, you can either seek solace that you can claim deductible expense when you file for tax or you can TAKE ACTION against your debtors.

Bad debts usually mean that small businesses would be hit with cash flow problems and face immediate pressure on the business. And cash flow problems is one of the main reasons for failure of small businesses.

Also, chasing bad debts can be a very mentally exhausting process. It is frustrating and time consuming. When faced with our first case of bad debt collection, our normal work process was put on a slow down mode as we tried to contact our debtor every few days to follow up. It was totally time wasting! Moreover, it can be demoralizing and draining, affecting your performance at work.

There's a few option for bad debt collection. Before you proceed with the best course of action, you got to assess the situation and weigh your options carefully as every case is different.

Do keep in mind to start recovering your bad debts within 6 years or you chance of recovering the bad debts will be close to zero.

I'll touch on the few options in my upcoming posts:

Legal Action through Small Claims Tribunal

Debt Collector/Debt Collection Agencies

Handling it on your own

More Warning Signs of Bad Debts

• The debtor does not return phone calls, letters or emails

• Letters sent to debtor returned undelivered

• The debtor's family says he has moved but refuses to disclose his whereabouts

• The debtor denies responsibility

• The debtor asks you to sue him

• The debtor says, "If you press me, I'll go bankrupt."

• Another creditor has initiated claims against the debtor

• The debtor is a shell company whereby the directors say that they are not personally liable
  
  • This is totally untrue! As a director of a company, the person is liable for its debts etc.

• Change of ownership of company

• There's rumors in industry about debtor experiencing financial difficulties
  
  • If you can, do maintain a good relationship with other customers and working partners in your industry so that you'll be in the grapevine

• Debtor's sector is adversely affected by economic trends
  
  • For eg. You can observe from a retail business that business is slowing down and whether they have enough customers to sustain their business
  
  

Useful Websites & Contacts

ACRA Bizfile - to purchase company's & people's profile

• You'll need to know whether the company is Pte Ltd because if so, they may be liable only up to a certain amount of  the debt and debt collectors may not be able to get much from them after they declare bankrupt
• Reports cost only $5 each

Insolvency & Public Office Trustee - to find out if the company is already bankrupt

• Contacts can be found on their website

Small Claims Tribunal - to hear claims not more than $10,000 or $20,000 is the Claimant and Respondent consent in writing

• It's much faster if you can go straight to the subordinate court if there's a need to
• For matters relating to writ of seizure, you'll be directed to the Baliff which is right next to the Small Claim Tribunal

QuestNet SG - for companies' credit and litigation searches and reports

hello@TheEntrepreneurBusiness.com - if you want recommendation of the effective debt collection agency I've engaged ;)

I Got MY Money Back!

Yeah, finally! I just checked my account online and it's good news! Although it's not the full amount (it's the full 2009 amount), it is already about 75% of the debt! The debt collector will be chasing them again now that this first cheque has just cleared.

I feel so happy about this. It's no longer about the money but more of showing my debtor that I will not be pushed around anymore.

I was right about the hiring the debt collector. These people must have thought that we were pushovers and when we hired debt collectors, they simply handed the money over real quick. Money that was owed 4 months was simply paid up over 1 weekend!

This bad debt was money deemed as lost initially but the situation has turned around! It's victory in my opinion.

I rather pay a the debt collector who are so much more deserving of the money than these unscrupulous businesses who take advantages of small businesses.

I've started a category on 'Debt Collection' on this site to share more about my experiences and the steps you can take to increase your odds of collecting back your bad debts. You can also view the category on the right side of this page. I hope this will be of help to businesses in the same situation.

Signs and Symptoms of Bad Debts

First few signs of impending bad debts:

• A sudden increase in order
  
  • It may mean that the customer has lost credit with another supplier and is ordering more from you to fill the gap

• Payment become increasingly slow
  
  • The customer may have cash flow problem

• Groundless complaints about shipped orders or excuses about invoice misplacements etc.
  
  • The customer may be stalling time to delay payment

• Makes partial payment instead of the agreed full payment

• You receive numerous excuses on non-payment
  
  • For e.g. change of accountant, management, busy festive period. misplaced invoices etc.

• Makes payment for smaller amount even though earlier outstanding invoices are not cleared according to date
  
  • The customer gives excuses about mixed up invoices such that they can pay off the smaller amounts instead

So, if you see any of these bad debt warning signs, do exercise extra caution in extending additional credit to your customers.

And I'd like to hear from others too who have experienced bad debts. Do share your comments so that we can all learn and avoid getting ourselves into bad debts situations.

Of Books and Apple

It has taken me a few days to find the perfect wordpress template to use for this new site and I am very satisfied with this current one that is easy for a beginner like me to tweak and customize.

Do go to this site for free wordpress themes download. They have several nice ones which can be easily customizable.

This red and brown coloured wordpress template rightly convey my passion in running my own business. I like the warm feel it exudes and I also wanted to put in my own picture in the header.

Why so? Becuase the books represents my interest in reading and the apple, my appetite for knowledge.

As any entrepreneurs will know, this is a path of contant learnings and challenges.

Now that the basic setup is done, let my sharing begins.