Thread: Sad when good businesses become otherwise

Wholesalers.
Beware.
Some small independent retailers can hit a low cash flow patch. There are endless reasons this happens. Maybe a large local employer lays off lots of jobs, maybe theres a drought, maybe a huge chainstore opens another branch in your town.
If you then cannot pay all the outgoings, wages, compo premiums, BAS, and wholesaler accounts due... which do you choose to pay? Maybe you get a bigger overdraft? Maybe you kick the can down the road, but you pay the bills - certainly you are loathe to cut the payroll.
One month you just cannot pay it all, and in a call with the wholesaler they give you a pass -after all they are in a position to know how well the shop usually trades.
This goes on, sometimes you get back to "nil outstanding", sometimes everything comes good again, but some traders do not and they will take 12 months to get to the point where the wholesaler says they will take over the business, overdraft and all, and just waive the account.
I think it would've been better choice to cut the payroll when it was necessary to save the business. But that is a very hard thing to do in a small town. Very hard.

Originally Posted by DiscoMick

Doesn't have to be that way. I know organisations which have centralised systems, but allow local managers freedom to succeed or fail.

Maybe it doesn't have to be, but it often is!

John