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Small Business Sucks...but it doesn't have to

by Paul Thompson

195 pages; Black coil; catalogue #00-0056; ISBN 1-55212-392-8; US$22.00, C$25.00, EUR18.00, £12.50

Small Business Sucks is a light-hearted approach to the age-old problems that appear in small business every day.

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about the book      about the author      excerpt      catalogue info

About the Book Small Business Sucks: examines how small business drives many sectors of the nation's economy, while empowering small business owners to laugh at themselves. is a novel and unique approach for getting people to strip away the misconceptions of what small business is really all about. is filled with laughter and empathy - the reader will recognize the thread of real life, because no one could invent such fiction. is instructive - people in small business are often really competent at whatever niche market they are aiming at but rarely are capable of dealing with all aspects of their business. is unique - the format, the play value and the approach are all totally different than anything else on the market. Read the news release for this title.

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About the Author Paul Thompson has been both an employee, and an employer. He has worked in positions from the bottom of the totem pole to the top. He has swept floors, sold almost everything, been the general manager of a large company, and owned his own small business. Through the course of his career he has become the co-producer of annual health show. Here he interfaces with hundreds of small business people. Their goal is the illusive entrepreneur's dream...success. Through his infectious sense of enthusiasm and mirth, people seek him out. His recently developed counselling and consulting company has seen him presenting seminars on empowering the small business person to remain successful. From the one-person operation to corporate clients, Paul has helped people grow as individuals and prosper as companies. His communication strategies and true sense of vision have allowed audiences and individuals to think beyond the normal parameters of routine. CONTACT: the author at 250-474-1731 (email at tigris@canada.com)

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Excerpt

COLLECTION AGENCY

This is only a group of people.

This is a group of people who now have a third party debt. Remember that...A THIRD PARTY DEBT. Your company is the third party. The people to whom your company owes money have waited the ninety days (or in some cases, years) for the money. They now have placed you in collection. The people to whom you owed the original money have lost a portion of the money. The collection agency charges them to collect the outstanding debt. The collection agents are paid commission.

The following are some tips on how to handle these sometimes ill-mannered and insolent and mostly rude individuals.

• Never spend the money and call back a long distance number. If you don't have the money to pay the money on the debt, you don't have the money to use long distance.
• Don't let these people intimidate you.
• Remember your position.
• You are an owner.
• These people are usually entry level, uneducated, anger-filled nobodies to whom you owe nothing. They are at best telemarketers and at worst, people with poor vocabularies.
• They are not officers of any court.
• They do not have any official designation or jurisdiction. They are clerks.
• The fact that they call themselves collection officers doesn't give them any legal or police-like powers.
• They will attempt to prey on your insecurities. Don't let them.
• Set the boundaries right away. You are the only one to whom financial information may be given. They cannot legally disclose information to any of your employees.
• Don't give out your home number or let your employees give out your home number.
• Do not promise anything. No matter how demanding, aggressive, pushy, bitchy, or cunning they may be.
• Don't be afraid to be honest with them. Tell them you have no money. It's the truth. Generally they don't like it, but they can't do a thing about it.
• Don't be afraid of threats of court action:
  a) It gives you more time;
  b) It erodes their profit factor;
  c) It costs them money;
  d) They rarely ever go to the trouble of going to court.
  
• Remember the golden rule. He who has the gold makes the rules. In this case you don't have any gold. That's why they're calling.
• Return their calls or information from a different telephone or, if it's an 800 number, call from a public telephone.
• Dial *67 to block your telephone number. Don't be afraid to hang up on them again and again.
• If they request that you courier or XpressPost anything, don't unless they pay for it. They won't!
• Don't let them embarrass you.
• Be as tough and aggressive with them as they are trying to be with you.
• For most of them, it is theater and generally THEY ARE PLAYING TO AN EMPTY HOUSE. In the real world they would never get the part.

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Catalogue Information

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