Around for decades, SCORE is an organization that -- for free -- provides mentors for small business owners. Hey, even top entrepreneurs Bill Gates and Michael Dell got help from mentors. It's crucial.

Well, this week SCORE launched a social network to help with the process. In fact, they formed an alliance with PartnerUp, which has already built its own small business networking platform.

Continue reading SCORE Community: The Facebook for starting a biz?

SCORE Community: The Facebook for starting a biz? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 21 May 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's a common problem in today's tough economy: some customers are simply not paying their bills. Thus, business owners need to get up to speed on the ugly business of collections.

OK, so what are some best practices? Let's take a look:

Understand your collection cycle: With any accounting package, you can put together an accounts receivable aging measure. Essentially, this gives you a breakdown of how long it takes your customers to pay. It's a good idea to have at least a year's worth of the aging (note that there may be some seasonality in the data). With this, you can better gauge when there are danger signs with customers.

Escalate: "If you notice customers are not paying when they typically do according to your aging trends," says Dr. Devin A. Jopp, Chief Operating Officer of SCORE, Counselors to America's Small Business, "then you need to act quickly. The first step is to make a call and find out why."

Continue reading Entrepreneur's Journal: What to do when your customers don't pay

Entrepreneur's Journal: What to do when your customers don't pay originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 09 Nov 2008 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.