Quote:
Originally Posted by Adventurelife
I really try not to let one sector never mind individual business be a large % of my revenue.
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I've seen this bring friend's businesses down twice now....
First time was in '88 when my then business partner's
PR and Publicity firm folded. He'd got into huge debt to service the print needs of a large Argyle-Based building firm who then started to stiff him for the money they owed him.... And as this was about 60% of his revenue base he could neither walk away nor carry it!
The second last year when
another friend's
PR agency (what is it with
PR people) got 'stiffed' by a Welsh County Council! Again it was a fair chunk of his client base and they'd run up sizeable debts...
I agree absolutely that the large corporates are the worst! Which is one reason why I focus on the smaller businesses. Up to a decade or so ago over 80% of my business was for large corporates... and the payment problems were horrendous! This is why most video companies will take up to 60% upfront before they'll even unzip a camera bag! And why rack rates have so wide a margin built in....