If you've got a friend owing your business money and they're not repaying that debt you're probably at a loss as to whether or not to put your business before your friendship by not pressing hard for your money.
However, the greatest threat to your friendship is actually not recovering your money. After all the life blood of your business is cash-flow and starved of cash everything you work so hard to build could come crashing down around your ears.
Hence, by not repaying their debt your friend is the one whos setting both your business and as well as your relationship up to fail.
Be that as it may you probably still feel reluctant to chase a friend for money. If that's the case you'll be delighted to hear there's a quick and easy strategy to recover your money and preserve your friendship.
So if you find yourself in this position, the first thing you must do is either in writing or in person speak your truth. Simply say something along the lines of...
"You know how much our friendship means to me and that I would never do anything to jeopardize it. However, now that my business is going through a tight spot not asking you to repay the money you owe me puts both our friendship and my business at risk. And because I'd absolutely hate for us to fall out over money I'd really appreciate it if you would square me up by the end of the week."
Now as this is a statement of fact so long as you relay it calmly and respectfully no true friend would resent you for making this request.
Having now asked for your money back, one of four things will happen.
Obviously the best outcome is for your friend to pay what's owed. Not only is this good for your business it also demonstrates your friendship is actually worth something.
The second possible scenario is that your friend confesses that they're so strapped for cash that they don't have the means to settle their debt. In this instance while it's fine to feel sympathetic the harsh reality is they're putting themselves before your friendship.
The third possible outcome is that they tell you where to get off and refuse to pay. In so doing they've clearly enunciated "Our friendship doesn't mean that much to me. In fact I'm only pretending to be your friend so that I can take advantage of your good nature." And that's OK. Because at least you now know where you truly stand.
The fourth and final possible outcome is that your friend lies to you by saying they'll pay when in fact they never do. In this scenario not only has your so called friend declared your friendship baseless they've also revealed they're in serious financial trouble.
If you find yourself in any of the final three scenarios it's clear you're not going to recover your money on your own. Because you're now dealing with an emotionally loaded debt you really have no choice other than to refer the debt to a debt collection agency.
Having made the decision to refer the debt out all that remains is a choice as to whether or not you want to try and maintain your friendship.
If you want to extend some leniency towards your friend then you should definitely engage the services of a collection agency that provides a "Velvet Glove" phase of recovery. With this style of recovery the collection agency works along side your debtor to recover the debt within 30 days using a respectful, assertive yet inoffensive approach. Significantly, should the debt be settled within this 30 day window neither you nor your friend will be penalised with collection agency commissions. Using this approach, if your friendship means anything to them they'll do what ever it takes to settle their debt within in this 30 day window.
If on the other hand they've told you where to go (i.e. either of the last two scenarios above) OR they don't pay within the "Velvet Glove" phase then you must adopt a no-holds-barred approach to recover your money immediately. Dont be fooled... under these circumstances they've declared your friendship over and they really don't care if you and your business falls over. With this in mind you have no choice other than go for the jugular using what's known as an "Iron Fist" approach.
Now this may all sound harsh but at the end of the day you've done nothing wrong by asking for your money back. After all, it's rightfully yours. No true friend would ask you to put your business as well as your friendship at risk over money.
To help you recover bad debts from friends who won't pay The Debt Doctor's debt collection blog reveals where to find debt recovery agencies that provide "Velvet Glove" and "Iron Fist" debt recovery.
Comments on this entry are closed.