Masonry Magazine December 1992 Page. 36
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BANKRUPTCY CREDITOR
Continued from Page 18
instance, a financially troubled creditor will have delivery of product and work done by those from whom he can obtain the most credit. If those supplies and/or labor are yours, he will be improving his position by using your money.
Even obtaining personal guarantees, although helpful, may not have much of an impact on protecting your debt since, in most cases, as the business goes, so goes the owner. Most often, owners put their own resources into their business in an effort to keep it afloat. They cross-collateralize their business debts with their personal assets. So if the business fails, the owner's personal bankruptcy is not far behind.
No matter how solid your personal relationship is with a customer, you must protect yourself in business the way a debtor will protect himself. You must cut off credit to slow paying customers-unless and until they prove they can pay you on a timely basis. In every instance where I have seen creditors escape a customer's bankruptcy with minimal loss, they have adhered stringently to that policy, even though it meant they might lose what appeared to be a big sale.
Succinctly, stated, my five rules for avoiding a customer's bankruptcy are:
■Wherever possible, obtain security interest.
Where possible, obtain personal guarantees.
Require deposits or retainers.
Pursue slow paying clients quickly keep on top of your customers' business.
Start out and maintain your business relationships by making smart credit decisions.
Probably the most difficult decision for business people to make is to stop doing business with someone whose business looks shaky-to not take that first order. Don't wait until you have risked your own business to make a good credit decision. If you want to avoid having a customer's bankruptcy cause your own financial problems, make your decision to do business on sound credit information. Then make regular reevaluations of your relationships with customers.
MINCHELLA IS A GRADUATE of Loyola University of Chicago Law School. A sole practitioner in Chicago, she has been concentrating her practice in representing both debtors and creditors in financial re organizations and bankruptcy for ten years. Her offices are at 19 South LaSalle, Suite 601, Chicago, Illinois 60603, 312/663-5005.
36 MASONRY-NOVEMBER/DECEMBER, 1992